Lazarus Taxon
by Mrs. Owl 09
Summary: Thought I would do a fun crossover that was pointed out to me hadn't been done yet. I'll move it to the proper area when it's finished, I want to give everyone a chance to see it. So, here is SeaQuest and Jaws! And there will be shipping for all you love birds. Of course there's gonna be a warning for my dirty mind and mouth and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Written as a gift for 123Writer.**

** You don't need to know a lot about Jaws to get this, just the basic info (ie; big ole shark eating people, a glance at the synopsis is probably enough). I'm not going to bother with how these two times coincide, it's just a fun little story. Takes place directly after the first "Jaws" and the season two episode "Vapors." And needless to say, AU. Enjoy! **

Nathan Bridger watched with mild interest as a large flock of seagulls took off from the water in front of him. He was sipping coffee on the pier of his island in the early morning sun. The small contingent of his crew was till sleeping it off back at the house.

Although he tried to keep the drinking to a minimum, he knew more went on than he saw. And they had all stayed up very late talking, and enjoying the short shore leave. Nathan was grateful to have the chance to get to know the latest additions of the crew better. He was already seeing a great untapped potential in Tony, in particular. The ex-con hid it well, but the captain was able to recognize the young man had quickly developed a great loyalty to his new friends and co-workers.

Hearing stumbling footsteps behind him, Nathan turned suddenly. Lucas was carefully making his way down the pier looking disheveled, well, more than usual. He tried to smooth his shaggy blonde hair down when the captain chuckled at this appearance. "I'm surprised to see you up and around this early, Lucas."

"Yeah, me too." Lucas rasped, rubbing his face wearily. "What was in that iced tea Tony gave me?"

Nathan let out a short laugh. "Very little actual tea." Lucas grimaced at the noise, causing the older man to smile with some sympathy. "What did he tell you it was?"

"Something from New York… popular in Long Island, I think."

"That's what I thought." He answered, struggling not to laugh.

Lucas groaned and scowled at the seagulls squawking loudly as they flew over the water. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"You were almost done with the first one when I saw it. It was already too late. I did stop Tony from giving you a third one, though. And we all stopped him from shaving your eyebrows off when you passed out. I told Dagwood to keep watch over you."

"Oh… That's why I woke up on his chest. Thanks… I think." Lucas blinked his eyes, trying to clear them, and his aching, muddled brain.

"So, why are you awake this early?" Nathan asked, watching Lucas yawn and his eyelids droop. "I have a hard time getting you up before eight hundred hours on the ship."

"Oh!" Lucas snapped to attention, "sorry. You had a call on your vidlink." He smiled mischievously, his blue eyes glinting. "She said she'd call back, and I quote, 'when there is less carnage on the floor.' I guess she could see everyone still sleeping."

Nathan raised an eyebrow, "mind telling me who it was, Mr. Wolenczak?"

Lucas saluted smartly, while smirking, "yes, sir, captain. Dr. Westphalen will be contacting you soon."

"Kristin?" His face lit up, then reddened slightly. "What did she want?"

"I'm not sure," Lucas smiled at his captain's reaction. "My head was pounding… in fact," he wrinkled his face, "it still is." He paused, trying to think, "I believe she said something about a shark? And a cousin? Maybe a shark's cousin? Does that make sense?"

"Did she say a name?" Nathan's tone turned from confusion and amusement to irritation in a breath's time.

Lucas hesitated when he saw the reaction. "Um… yeah, she said something about 'Brody.' But I thought she meant the lieutenant. Does she even know him?"

"Brody?" Nathan's eyes sparked with recognition, then darkened with annoyance again. He sighed, "Martin has a shark problem, again. Damn it, how did she get mixed up with him?" He stalked toward the house, leaving the bewildered Lucas in his wake.

Nathan took a deep breath as he sat in front of his bedroom's vidlink. It was the only place in the house that would allow him privacy and didn't have an unconscious crew member in the line of sight. Carefully smoothing his facial hair down, he wondering if he should shave before calling. Instead, he quickly dialed the familiar number before he could change his mind.

After only one ring, it was answered, and although the face that filled the screen was furious, it still took his breath away. "Kristin…"

"Was Lucas hung over?" She demanded, without a greeting of any sort. "How could you let him drink?"

"Well… um…" he fumbled for a reply. Nathan could successfully conduct himself in front of military and government panels, or easily command a sub full of crew through pretty much any situation. But, for some reason, seeing this fiery redhead in front of him seemed to reduce him to the metal scrambling of a guilty schoolboy.

"Kristin," he tried again, ruffling his hair. "You look well. You… you haven't changed a bit."

She narrowed her eyes at his distraction technique, but didn't fight it. "Thank you, Nathan. It's only been a few months." Her steely gaze dropped and her voice softened, "but longer than that since you actually looked at me."

Nathan swallowed uncomfortably, "yes… I… um… Did you need something, Doctor?"

"I… we need your help, Nathan."

"You and Martin?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yes, Nathan, I'm _working_ with your cousin. We met at a conference about the Lazarus Taxon phenomenon a month ago. At first…" she hesitated, "I thought he was you, you look so similar. But I knew were underway."

"You've been watching me?" He replied hopefully, and in obvious surprise.

"In a way." Kristin admitted. "Lucas and Tim call me regularly."

Nathan blinked in astonishment, he knew Lucas felt very close to the doctor, but neither the teen nor Tim mentioned speaking with her at all, let alone often. "I see," he nodded, prompting her to continue.

"Yes, well, as you know after my services were…. no longer required abroad the SeaQuest, I began researching other interests. One of these interests is the study of previously thought to be extinct species that have been found again."

"Lazarus taxon…" he mused, looking for the connection. "And Martin…" Nathan raised an eyebrow before bursting into laughter. "Let me guess, Martin has you convinced that a giant prehistoric shark is out there."

The scowl that crossed Kristin's face was so reminiscent of Lucas', Nathan bit his tongue to stifle the laugh. "Yes, he has. But perhaps you should see some of the damage that has been done to colonies, and how many people have died, before you push this away so flippantly."

This caught Nathan's attention and he cocked his head, staring at her. "What do you mean? The UEO hasn't told us about any attacks or damage."

Kristin met his gaze smugly, "do you truly expect them to admit something like this?"

"No, not at first." He admitted sourly. "They'd hide it until they had to warn the public. But they should have told me at least. I could have helped some of those people."

"You're much too honorable, Nathan. If there was a threat like this out there, and you know knew, you would be on every news channel telling everyone to get out of the water, your reputation be damned. I know the UEO doesn't think the global economy can handle that kind of panic."

Nathan flushed at the complement and looked at the screen with a wry grin, as his mind wandered. If Kristin still believed he was honorable, his missteps in the past may be forgiven. "What can we do? The ship is out of commission for another week. And even if we had it, the UEO won't let us investigate it."

"I have a sub, we could start looking. When we have proof, you can demand to use the SeaQuest." Kristin offered.

"You want to search for a giant shark that can eat humpbacked whales, in a tin can?" Nathan scoffed, "and what happens when… if we find it?"

Kristin's lips thinned in anger. "You outran an exploding lava rift in a single seat experimental mini-sub, but if you are too afraid to do this, Nathan, Martin and I can only hope it will swallow us and choke to death on my 'tin can.'" She ended in a hiss before shutting down the link.

"Damn it!" Nathan growled, slumping in his seat. After considering for a few moments, he punched in a new number on the screen, holding his breath and getting ready for a fight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I'm so happy you guys are behind me on this! I'll try to post a couple times a week, but it'll depend on how crazy life and work get. **

* * *

When Nathan walked into the kitchen, he was grateful to see another pot of coffee just finishing brewing. Lucas poured a mugful and handed it to him, eyeing him carefully. Nathan offered him a warm smile, feeling guilty for storming away from him earlier. "Thanks, Kiddo. When everyone is fully awake, we need to have a meeting."

"Is the Doc in trouble?" He asked apprehensively.

"She's safe at the moment, but the sooner we get involved, the better." Nathan turned away from the young man's questioning stare, after giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder.

He saw Tim and Lonnie talking quietly in a corner. Tim was blushing, but looked pleased while Lonnie smiled brightly and softly rubbed his arm. The two of them had vanished from the party early on, and Nathan tried his best not to speculate on their current behavior.

After a few minutes, everyone was more or less awake and sipping on their own coffees. Nathan caught Commander Ford's eye. It was an expression Jonathan knew well, and he took position behind his captain to offer support for whatever was coming. Wendy, as well, sensed his troubled mind. She watched him carefully, but stayed where she was, talking to Lucas and Tony.

"People," Nathan began, easily attracting their attentions. "I know we are officially on shore leave, and many of you want to see your families, but there is a situation I think we need to investigate."

He paused, waiting for a reaction, but only received attentive stares from his crew. "We have reason to believe there is something attacking colonies. All reports point to this being biologic, but we need to check it out for ourselves. If it is an animal, it's huge, possibly one hundred feet long."

There were several gasps of surprise, but only Lucas spoke up. "The only thing out there that large is a blue whale, and they're peaceful. A colony running some kind of sonar could confuse it though, I guess."

Nathan nodded, "good thinking, Lucas. Keep that in mind, but reports that have come in say it was… a shark. But," he held his hand up at the noises of disbelief from his crew. "We all know how an eye witness' testimony can be inaccurate during a panic. A few of us will be visiting the sites, while the rest can work from here."

"Why not all of us, Cap?" Tony voiced the question on everyone's faces. "If you gotta fight a giant fish, the ship shouldn't be on no skeleton crew."

Nathan cleared his throat, "if we were using the SeaQuest, that would be true. But we will be on a private vessel is much smaller."

"Not using the ship?" Wendy spoke for the first time. "They are only refitting some of the sensors, that must be able be put off until this thing is stopped."

"This… isn't exactly an order from the UEO, they want no part of it." Nathan explained, he paused to allow the angry muttering to stop. "The brass informed me, 'We won't stop you from going anywhere on your own time, but this nonsense will not be sanctioned for use of UEO equipment.'"

"But the SeaQuest is your ship." Lucas interjected in frustration. "It's not like we're looking for Nessie."

"Well…" Nathan started slowly, "it's been reported as… as a megalodon."

Commander Ford lost his normally tightly controlled composure and snorted loudly. "That's not possible. The most recent fossil they've found is 10,000 years old. That's not as old as the dinosaurs, but there can't be any around without being seen before this."

"That is why this isn't sanctioned, if we find creditable evidence, they will back us… they say." Nathan told him with a sigh. "Until then, we are on our own. And, I won't order anyone to help with this, if you can't, it won't be held against you."

Of course, no one spoke up to refuse aid, and Nathan smiled proudly at his crew. "Alright, Commander Ford and I will be deciding who goes where. In the meantime, start brain storming. I'd like to have some ways to deal with this creature in a nonlethal fashion. Killing it will be a last resort."

Lucas was already opening his laptop as the captain finished speaking. Trying to ignore the discussions around him, he started to type. "Can ya believe this?" Tony muttered to Tim, "we've seen some crazy stuff out there, but a giant dino shark?"

"Says the man with the gills." Lieutenant Brody snorted. "There is a lot we don't know about the oceans, the whole world for that matter." He added mysteriously.

Tony gaped at him before starting to laugh. "You're one of 'em, aint cha?" He struggled to keep his snickering from interrupting what he wanted to say. "You think Bigfoot and mermaids are just hanging out waiting for us to find 'em." Jim didn't voice a reply, instead glaring at the seaman. Tony chose to push his luck. "How 'bout aliens? Are they kidnappin' the people who have the proof 'bout Nessie? Hidin' the truth from us all?"

Tim decided to intercede before a punch was thrown, and judging by Brody's face, it would be soon. "There is some interesting evidence for alien interference in human civilization. Sudden technological advances for instance."

Tony shook his head, still laughing. "Oh man I need more coffee for this crap."

"Tim's right, but not just technology, people too." Jim slowly told him, trying to keep calm. If they hadn't been on shore leave, he could have slapped Tony in cuffs and tossed him in the brig for a night for his attitude. Now, he could only hold his ground and hope to save face. "Many times in history, people who save mankind have turned up right before or during a crisis. They call them star-children, geniuses who had new ways to solve problems. People so smart, everyone around them have a hard time even talking with them. Where did they suddenly come from if not…"

He crossed his arms triumphantly, daring Tony argue. Lucas looked up from the computer before either man push the discussion further. "Did you just call me an alien?"

Jim blinked and dropped his arms, "um…"

"Because that would be pretty awesome." Lucas grinned before going back to his work.

"And it'd explain a lot…" Tony muttered, watching the teen's fingers fly across the keys.

* * *

A half hour later, Nathan called his troops attention again. "What have you found?"

"Not much," Lucas reported forlornly. "I don't think many people care about keeping sharks alive when they're being attacked. Making a bubble curtain looks promising, but they learn to not be afraid of it. And it would have to be huge to work. I've found some information diving suits colored to look like poisonous sea snakes, but I don't think that'll help with something this big."

"I'll put an order in for a few, it might help if we have to dive." Nathan nodded his thanks.

"I should be able to make the WSKR's mimic the sounds and reflectively of a bubble wall." Offered Ortiz, "if we can get the ok to use them." In an undertone, he added, "or sneak them out."

"Can you link one to Kristin's sub?" Nathan asked, interested in the idea. "I'd like some protection, even if it's a minor."

"Kristin?" The crew members who had worked with the doctor looked at him in surprise and excitement, but Ford was the only voice he heard. The tone of that voice was confused and mixed with a small part of irritation.

"Yes… She is working with my cousin and brought this to my attention." Nathan said cautiously, he knew Jonathan and Kristin didn't often see eye to eye and hoped they wouldn't have a problem with this particular mission.

The commander nodded curtly and turned away to address the rest of the group. "I'll be heading the home base crew. Lieutenant Brody, Dr. Smith, and Henderson, you'll be with me."

Miguel stepped forward, "sir, if I stay in the area, I can run the remaining WSKR's to look for this thing around here." Nathan and Ford exchanged a look before nodding. "I'll just borrow Lucas and Tim for a short time before you leave to link up the one going with you."

"Deal," Nathan clapped his hands together. "We'll leave as soon as possible. Everything clear?"

"Um… Captain Bridger, sir?" Dagwood looked around the corner of the wall. "Where am I going?"

Nathan looked startled, "oh, I'm sorry Dagwood. We… didn't think of you. Where would you like to go?"

The large GELF looked around the room carefully, "you told me to watch Lucas, I will go with him." He finally decided.

Lucas hid a grimace, "great, a three hundred pound babysitter…"

"Maybe he can keep you out of trouble for a change." Nathan smirked, then laughed outright. "No one else can." Everyone turned away from Lucas' scowl, fighting to keep their laughter under control.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I am so sorry this took so long. It's been a crazy week and when I finally had a chance to write, our internet went down for two days. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, if I didn't say so personally. I try to get everyone, but there were several of you (which is awesome by the way).**

* * *

"So what do you think about all this?" Tim asked, as he watched Lucas stuff his laptop into an already overfilled duffle bag.

"What, the ongoing theory that I'm an alien?" Lucas snorted, looking up through a fringe of blonde hair.

Tim laughed, "not exactly what I meant. The whole thing really."

Lucas sat on the sofa next his bag, trying to ignore Dagwood hovering right beside him. "Well, I guess if scientists have found giant squids and coelacanths, not to mention narwhals... a lot of people don't think they're even real." He shook his head trying to reclaim the train of thought. "So, who's to say there aren't some very big sharks down there too? I'm not sure if it's a megalodon though. That's little extreme."

Tim nodded, before he could add his input, dark expression crossed Lucas' face. "As for the alien thing… well, Tony's right. It would explain a few things."

"Like what?"

"Like my folks not being anything like me." Lucas muttered, "or giving a shit." He glanced away, refusing to meet Tim's astonished eyes. "I guess I'd be a little annoyed about having an alien for a kid too."

Tim looked away uneasily, like most of the crew, he could never understand why the young man's parents held so little interest in him. Although he had his own jealousies concerning Lucas, he always felt extreme frustration when he heard the teen talk about himself in a disparaging way.

Dagwood was much more forthright and tilted his head to gaze at Lucas. "What is an alien? Is it bad?"

"No, Dag, just different." Lucas sighed.

"Dagwood is different." The large man said proudly. "Captain Bridger said different is special."

"Yeah, Dag, you're special." Lucas sighed again, but tried to smile for his benefit.

Dagwood seized him in a one armed, but still back cracking hug, "I'm the prototype!" He exclaimed happily, "is Lucas a prototype too?"

Lucas couldn't help chuckling as he gasped for air. "Maybe, big guy, maybe."

* * *

Kristin chewed her lips as Martin Brody brought the mini-sub into position against Nathan's dock. She hadn't seen him face to face for months, and despite getting off to a rather rocky start on the vidphone, she was excited about his agreement to help them. A feeling that would better placed at a high school prom filled her chest. With annoyance, Kristin tried to squash the butterflies back down.

The door popped open when Martin punched a button on the control console. He offered her a sympathetic smile, reading her expression easily. She fixed a few tendrils of auburn hair that dared to escape it's bun and straightened her clothes. "I thought you didn't care." Martin pointed out with a smirk that reminded her so much of Nathan that she flushed. "Or are you just trying to show him what he's missing?"

"Yes, well..." She didn't have a good response and started to walk to the door, glaring at him.

Martin put up his hands in apology, "forgive the police officer's skills of observation. I can't quite ever shake it, it drives my wife crazy."

She nodded curtly before lifting her head in a perfect example of British poise. Even though she had prepared herself, seeing Nathan standing on the dock in the afternoon sun took her breath away. He was smiling widely, taking the sight of her in, and looking slightly breathless himself.

"Kristin..." He began, taking a step toward her.

"Nathan, thank you fo..." Her well-rehearsed speech was cut off as a stream of water shot over the side of the deck and soaked her head to toe. Kristin sputtered, and tried to clear her eyes as the miscreant guilty of the offense squealed loudly in greeting.

"Darwin!" Nathan started to chide halfheartedly, barely controlling a laugh. "I think he missed you."

As the shock of the cool water wore off, she found herself chuckling. "Hello, Darwin, I missed you too." Kristin reached down and rubbed the melon of the smiling dolphin.

"That's one way to break the ice." Martin grunted from behind her, still standing in the door of the sub. Knowing how anxious she was about seeing his cousin and the crew again, he opted to stay back, and hopefully, out of the line of fire.

"Darwin has always been good at that." Nathan informed him, still grinning.

Lucas brushed by the captain and hugged Kristin tightly when she straighten back up. "Doc, I missed you. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine Lucas, just a bit damp at the moment."

The rest of the crew gathered around the dock, Tim greeted her with a hug as tight as Lucas'. Kristin was surprised to see a young dark haired woman take his hand possessively when he stepped back. She raised an eyebrow at the blushing communications officer, "you left that out of your last call, Tim."

"Yes… I… uh… it's new." He finally managed to finish, blushing darker yet.

Kristin offered him an understanding smile before turning back to the remainder of the group. To her great surprise, Commander Ford was reaching out his hand to shake her own. "Jonathan, it's…. very nice to see you."

Ford flashed a grin, "don't worry, I won't be able to throw you in the brig if we get into an argument this time around."

Seizing his hand, Kristin pulled him into a hug as well. "I guess that means I can do this without you worrying about your silly reputation."

"Silly?" He muttered over her shoulder, scowling.

Lucas interceded before anything else could be said that they would both regret. "Doc, there's a few new people for you to meet." He pointed out the slouched shoulder Tony watching them warily. "This Tony Piccolo."

Tony nodded respectfully, and something like jealousy and longing flashed in his eyes when he saw the parental way Kristin treated the crew. She took his hand as well, "Tony, Lucas has told me quite a bit about you."

"Ya? Well, don't cha waste your time believin' it. I didn't do half the stuff he says, I betcha." Kristin cringed at the sound of him massacring the King's English, but patted him on the shoulder before moving on.

"This is Lonnie." Tim guided the woman towards her. "She… ah, works on the bridge too."

Lonnie smiled apprehensively and tucked a curl behind one ear. "Hello, Doctor. I'm really happy to finally meet you."

"You too, sweetheart, I look forward to talking with you about what your plans with Tim are."

Lonnie's eyes grew wide as she stammered for an answer. Kristin successfully fought the smile for a few seconds before Lonnie caught on. "Oh! That scared me, everyone says you're like a mother to almost everyone, I was kind of worried you thought I was some sort of…" She didn't finish the thought, and started to laugh with Kristin, although gave her an uneasy glance from the corner of her eye as she passed by.

Lucas motioned her down the dock where she briefly met Lieutenant Brody, but her attention was quickly taken by Dagwood making his way out of the house carrying what seemed to be everyone's luggage at once. "This is Dagwood." Lucas explained, seeing her startled face. "He's a…"

"A GELF, yes, I see." Kristin openly marveled at the man's strength and skin pattern.

Lucas mistook her expression and spoke with an irritated tone, "he's our gentle giant." There was a subtle stress on 'gentle' that no one could miss.

"I know, Lucas." She tilted her head, "you've talked about him enough; I've just never seen anyone like him this close."

"He _is_ the prototype." Lucas snorted, "he makes sure we know that."

"Hello," Dagwood said politely, putting the bags down with a loud thump. "Who are you?"

"I am Doctor Kristin." She answered, trying to recover from the vibrations created on the dock from the luggage.

He nodded slowly, "You are Lucas' friend, and Captain Bridger's."

"Have you heard Nathan speak about me?" She pursed her lips when she heard a loud huff on the other end of the dock.

Dagwood nodded enthusiastically, "yes, he said you were very pretty."

Nathan was saved from further embarrassment when the last member of the small crew left the house. Dr. Smith carefully made her way to the dock. She locked eyes with Kristin, but broke the link quickly. Kristin wore her heart on her sleeve, and it seemed, her thoughts as well. Wendy composed herself, and reached out a hand. "Dr. Wendy Smith, you must be Kristin."

As composed as ever, lifting her chin proudly, Kristin took the hand and gripped it firmly. "I am, and _you_ must be my replacement." She said coldly.


	4. Chapter 4

Martin cleared his throat, distracting Nathan as he watched Kristin meeting Dagwood. He gazed at his cousin, still standing in the doorway of the mini-sub. Stumbling through some small talk, Nathan patted the brightly and strangely purple and pink colored side of the sub. "This is bigger than I thought it would be. How does she handle?"

"She belongs to Kristin, so I've only driven a few times. She's… quite protective of the FlamFish."

"FlamFish?" Nathan asked incredulously, "what kind of name is like that? And what's with the color scheme, it's not very stealthy. You'll stand out to every shark in the water."

Martin fixed him with a cold, but surprised expression. "I may just be a landlubber, but even I know if you want to keep from getting eaten, looking poisonous helps."

Nathan stepped back from the sub, and gave it another apprising look. "Oh… of course. It's patterned after the flamboyant cuttlefish, nothing would try to eat one of those."

"We needed some kind of defense other than weapons, killing this thing should be a last resort."

"It's attacking people." Nathan pointed out, trying, on principal, to ignore that he said something very similar only hours before. "Since when do you care about killing sharks?"

Martin sighed, "you I know I didn't plan to go out and blow up that great white, right? It was only after we tried everything else and it was going to keep on killing, myself included."

Blinking in surprise, Nathan stared at him. "No, I guess I didn't know that. I'm sorry, I get so used to arguing with people about killing predators who are just doing what they were made to do that I just assumed…"

"You could have asked," Martin said softly. "You could have talked to me at all." Nathan lowered his face, and ran a hand through his hair. "You were like an older brother to me, Nathan. I know everything with Bobby and Carol tore you apart, but you didn't have to hide."

"So I've been told." Nathan returned dryly. "I've stopped hiding, this crew... they did for me what I couldn't myself." he nodded to the people gathered, and caught sight of Kristin in deep conversation with Wendy. He wondered briefly if he should intercede. He was fairly certain neither woman would come to blows, but if Kristin heard the rumors that had been circulating around the ship, there may be problems.

* * *

"Replaced?" Wendy kept her own tone even, and tried to keep the emotional waves she felt from Kristin from overwhelming her. "I think you may be mistaken. I was hired on after you left." Although she fought it, a frostiness cut through her voice.

"I didn't feel I had much of a choice." Kristin flushed angrily. "And perhaps if my position is so _thoroughly filled_…" Wendy could have understood the unsaid double entendre with no special abilities. As it was, she stepped back hurriedly from the furious flash of emotions. "It's because someone forced me out." Kristin finished with a hiss.

Lucas stepped forward quickly, "Doc…" both women turned their heads towards him. As they realized they mutually did this, they turned back to each other, even more enraged. Lucas wisely backed off, taking the confused Dagwood with him.

"Don't you dare." Kristin's voice became deathly low. "You may have wormed your way into Nathan's life, but you will never do that to Lucas. He is much too smart for your particular brand of _care_."

"Maybe you shouldn't have left him so wounded, and he wouldn't been looking for another mother figure." Wendy snapped back, no longer trying to control her senses. She allowed them to envelop her, spurring her on.

Kristin opened her mouth to snarl back, but was pulled away by Lucas. He was seething at the comments being said, and seeing that he was going be dragged into the argument whether he wanted to or not, had had enough. "Stop it, seriously how old are you two?! This isn't the Jersey shore, cut out the damn catfight."

The shock of his statement, and perhaps the mild curse, made them go silent, and finally see the shocked faces around them. They both pulled back, red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry Lucas." Kristin whispered, "I… I never meant to…"

"I'll get over it, as long as you aren't acting like the Real Housewives of the SeaQuest." He muttered, now embarrassed himself.

The quip broke the thick tension and the three gathered together started to laugh. Wendy placed a hand on the teen's arm, "I'm sorry too, it won't happen again."

She took a deep breath, and turned back to Kristin, an apologetic smile on her face. "I could only step into your shoes as the medical officer. Anything beyond a _profession position_ isn't something I'm interested in, now." She added quietly, very conscience of the ears around them.

Kristin's eyes flooded with sudden tears, "I'm afraid I may have misjudged you."

"Many people do." She murmured back. Laying a hand on Kristin's arm, shielding her words from Lucas with her body, Wendy leaned in and whispered, "he still loves you as much as you love him. His guilt about what happened only added to what he was feeling about Carol. It's sabotaging any other relationship he attempts. But he is too proud to say it."

The older woman nodded, swallowing the fresh tears. "Thank you, dear." She whispered back, blinking and dabbing at her eyes.

"Not that this ain't interestin', but shouldn't we be talkin' 'bout that fish?" Tony broken in, further lessening the tension.

Wendy laughed at the pained expression on Kristin's face. "You get used to the accent."

"I'm not all together sure I wish to." She answered, sounding more refined than usual, as if to combat what she was hearing.

Wendy took her arm and led her to the house, both laughing and chatting as they walked. "We were pretty far away, but weren't they at each other's throats a minute ago?" Miguel asked Lonnie and Tim softly.

"Yes, and they got through it. Did you expect them to start pulling hair and scratching?" She snorted.

"Woulda been cool to see the dames do that." Tony grinned, ignoring Lucas' dirty look.

Lonnie scoffed and marched off, muttering about men being all the same. Tim looked affronted, and scurried to catch up with her, proclaiming his innocence at the same time.

* * *

After the crew gathered around Nathan's kitchen table, Kristin spread out a map of the south eastern hemisphere. There were several differently colored markings surrounding Australia and the many islands of Indonesia "The red crosses are attacks where the shark was witnessed, the yellow are attacks with out witnesses. And the black," she pointed out the fifty or so scattered around the map, "are just sightings."

"There's been over a dozen attacks?" Nathan asked quietly, looking horrified. "And the UEO is turning away?"

Kristin nodded, "yes, and we believe it's all political. When I tried to get Security General Noyce involved, he informed me the UEO wasn't welcome in the area and they could take care of themselves."

There were several disgusted expressions shared around the table. "Politics, my favorite." Nathan said dryly. He took a breath and studied the map again. "A lot of sightings are around Collier Bay, is there anything there that could be attracting it?"

"A very large diamond mining colony opened there last year." Tim spoke up, most of the people gathered looked at him in surprise. "They uh... offered me a job when the SeaQuest was being rebuilt. There are about twenty different languages being spoken there." He shrugged, then answered the unasked questions around him. "They wanted a five year contract and I wasn't interested in staying away from the ship that long."

"Is that where the Argyle mine relocated to?" Kristin asked, pointing to a mid-sized lake just off the coast. "I read that their traditional mine dried up and they moved underwater. People fought it, saying it would kill fish and the tourist trade, but they must have had something to push the permits through. Probably money." She added scornfully.

Tim nodded, "that's the other reason I wouldn't do it. I didn't want to part of something like that."

"That makes sense, if the shark's food supply is suddenly poisoned or disappears, it'd be looking for something new to eat." Lucas said darkly, "so how do we get a muti-million dollar company to stop messing with the oceans?"

"People have been asking that for years." Nathan sighed, shaking his head.

* * *

**Author's Note: Flamboyant cuttlefish are awesome! Go learn about them. **


	5. Chapter 5

It only took Lucas and Miguel a few minutes to link Junior to the FlamFish. The WSKR would be towed behind them until they got to the area around the mining company. It was set to transmit data, not only to a simple control system Miguel set up and the mini-sub. But to Lucas' computer, where he could extrapolate more information than the traditional read outs.

Nathan watched Darwin and Tony hook up the cable with a bemused smile. "Do I want to know how you got hold of the WSKR? Or if it had anything to do with Tony vanishing for a few hours?"

Lucas shook his head with a smirk, "hear no evil, see no evil…"

"Have no fun." Miguel finished, offering another smile, with a sparkle of mischief in his dark eyes.

"I don't need any more fun." Nathan laughed, putting his hands up and backing up. "I get in enough trouble the way it is."

"And just whom have you been having fun with?" Kristin asked from behind him suddenly, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, I …. Um… you see" Nathan scrambled for an answer.

"Not that it's any of my business." She huffed, before turning to leave.

Feeling the eyes following them, he hurried after her. "We need to talk, Kristin. Before we're stuck in a small sub with five other people."

She slowed her walk, but shot an annoyed look at him. "Is that an order, captain? We don't have much time to dilly dally."

"No it's not, and I doubt the sub will leave without either of her captains."

Kristin allowed herself a chuckle and he led her to an empty part of the beach. "I love this view." She sighed happily, looking out across the water. "It seems like there is nothing there, but I know how full it is underneath."

"What do you think of the view of me?" Nathan whispered, more to himself than anything else.

"A very similar feeling, actually."

Nathan hesitated, feeling the full weight of her reply. "I don't know what Wendy told you…"

"The truth."

"It was just a …" He paused, trying to find the right word. "A mild infatuation." Nathan finally decided this was the safest way to explain. He didn't dare to look at her, afraid of what she would say.

"I know, she told me everything. I don't mind."

Nathan looked at her sharply, not believing what she said. "I'm sorry… for everything." He spoke, still hushed. "I know that doesn't start to fix it… but, I am."

Kristin only nodded, not trusting herself to speak for several minutes. "I know…" she breathed deeply, trying to keep the dialog going. "I knew you had issues with Carol's memory, and I wouldn't have been so hurt if that's what the problem was. And maybe it was part of it… but… Nathan," she looked at him with anger dancing in her eyes. "You abandoned me for your bloody ship. I didn't see you for days at a time. You loved that piece of technology more than me. Do you have any idea what that feels like?" She spat everything out in a rush, desperate to get through it. "Maybe it was weakness, but I just couldn't take that kind of betrayal, not even from you."

He cringed away from her, from the pain in her voice, and the guilt eating away at himself. "I don't know what it felt like, but I do know what it feels like to live with doing it to you." Nathan took her hand, she didn't fight it, but wouldn't look at him. "All I can do is spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

Kristin turned her head towards him quickly, "what does that mean?"

"Whatever you want it to mean. I'll leave SeaQuest for you, I'll follow you and Martin around finding extinct sharks, I'll stay here on this very spot if you want to." There was such an intense feeling of love radiating from him, Kristin lost her breath.

She found it again with difficultly. "I can't ask you to leave SeaQuest, it's your life and your passion. It would be like asking Darwin to live at an aquarium." She stared at the waves, chewing a lip, but not continuing.

"What is it? What do you want?"

When she looked at him again, her eyes were swimming with tears. "You'll figure it out when the time comes. And I'll wait for it." She leaned in and kissed his cheek, "only don't take too long, Nathan Bridger."

* * *

"What was that?" Tony looked around the side of the small cargo bay at Lucas.

"What was what?" Came the terse reply.

"The yellow thing."

"Nothing," Lucas grunted, "don't you have someone else to bother?"

"It was the vocoder, wasn't it? You think your gonna talk to the big fish? Have a heart to heart so it'll stop eatin' people?" Tony laughed incredulously. "Captain Bridger already said Darwin was stayin' here, why do you need it?"

"You never know." Lucas snapped back, pushing past him. "I might..." He cut himself off from a conversation he didn't really want to have, when he spied movement coming down the beach. "They're back, we'll be leaving soon."

Tony poked his head out of the sub and squinted in the late afternoon sun. "Are... Are they holdin' hands?! Ew... I didn't think old people did that."

"Old people do more than that." Lucas grimaced.

"Like what?!" Tony looked at him in horror as he jogged away. "Hey! Luke! Tell me!"

Lucas hurried into the house, ignoring his friend. "They're back." He reported, entering the kitchen.

"Good, if we leave now, the tide will be with us." Martin rolled up the map they were inspecting. "I'd like to get started."

Ford seemed to suppressing annoyance at the police chief for trying to take control. He walked away muttering, "too many chefs in the kitchen..."

When Nathan entered the house, the crew expected him to join them, but instead, he hurried to his room. Several minutes later he returned, looking flushed, and carrying two dusty bottles of champagne. "If everyone is ready, I need to do something on the dock."

The crew followed him, looking intrigued. He waited for them to gather around and held up a bottle. "Kristin has just informed me the FlamFish hasn't been properly christened yet. Given how dangerous this mission might be, I think it's important that we don't wait."

Tony blinked, flicking his eyes from the captain to the sub. As he opened his mouth, Wendy jabbed him in the ribs with an elbow. "Not that kind of christening, please get that image out of your head!" She hissed from the corner of her mouth. He flushed, and ducked his head, biting back a laugh.

Nathan handed one bottle to Lucas, "just hold on to that one for now." The teen looked at the extra champagne with confusion, and was even more bewildered when Nathan winked at him.

"To keep this crew safe and give us a little luck when we need it, I christen you, FlamFish!" Turning his head at the last moment, Nathan slammed the base of the bottle on the bow of the sub. It shattered with a shower of bubbles and glass causing everyone to jump, then clap.

"That was a waste of booze," Tony said looking sadly at the liquid running down the dock and into the water.

Lucas lifted the spare bottle, "why do we have two?"

"If a bottle doesn't break, it's bad luck to try again with the same one." Jonathan explained with a grin. "Sailors are a little superstitious."

Nathan started to rummage in the pocket of his shorts, while walking towards Kristin. "There's another reason too."

Pay no attention to the confused faces around him, he dropped to one knee in front of her, holding up a ring. "Doctor Kristin Westphalen, will marry this stubborn old sea-dog?"

* * *

**Author's note: That's three chapters in two and a half days, I can take a week or so off... right? ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

Kristin couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she didn't hear the gasps around her. She just stared at Nathan, kneeled in front of her holding that unassuming thin gold object. The sun reflected off the top directly into her eye, and she finally blinked, as if she was waking up from a daydream. "I ... What? Nathan! You... You... You perfect arse!"

He didn't reply, instead choosing to continue grinning at her like the proverbial cat who ate the canary. He heard a whisper from behind him, but couldn't place who it came from. "Is that no?" It was followed by a grunt, as if someone had been elbowed in ribs that were already tender from the same treatment.

Kristin fairly tore the ring from his hands, sliding it on her own finger. "So?" He asked, pushing himself upright.

She smacked him lightly on the chest before grabbing in a hug, followed by a short but deep kiss. "Of course," she whispered, "of course I will, you dodgy old coot."

A cheer erupted around them, making Kristin blush like a school girl. The women of the group surged forward as one to inspect the new jewelry, while the men slapped Nathan on the back and shook his hand.

"Ohhh," Lonnie breathed in amazement as she saw it. "That's beautiful."

"It really is perfect." Wendy agreed, giving Kristin's hand a squeeze.

At her words, Kristin looked at closely at the ring for the first time. It was modeled after an Irish Claddagh ring, with two hands creating the band. The heart they would normally hold, however, was replaced with a tiny globe. The blue oceans were carved in perfect painstaking relief, standing higher than the almost forgotten continents.

"Oh… oh my." Tears filled her eyes as she read the minuscule script imprinted on the band. 'As my ocean is full of water, so is my heart full of love.'

Commander Ford peered at the clear, but sunset streaked sky past the captain's shoulder. "I think a storm might be coming, we should wait it out. It may be a bad one."

"What?" Nathan turned to see. "I don't see…"

"I think Junior may need some more work to make sure he doesn't wander off." Miguel added, copying Ford's wry grin.

Lucas looked from man to man before it clicked. "Ah, yeah, my… uh computer program is still buggy." He handed the bottle of champagne to his shocked captain.

"But you said…" Tony's teeth snapped together as he was elbowed in the ribs again.

Lonnie nodded, "There's a new movie playing at the interactive theater, Tim. Did you want to see it?" He scowled in response, but a squished toe changed his expression into one of reluctant acceptance.

Lieutenant Brody smirked, "Martin, you were interested in seeing the area, right? It'll take a few hours, but we could tour the bay."

The police chief caught on quickly as well, "and I'd like to learn more about this mining company, that could take all night."

Everyone swiftly agreed on the small mutiny, and started evacuate the area. Only Dagwood hesitated, but was bribed by Tony with an offer to ride the jetski. "See you in the morning Nathan, Kristin." Wendy called as she walked away. Making it as clear as possible that the newly engaged couple was supposed to stay put.

"Did you tell them to do that?" Kristin asked, shaking her head ruefully.

"Not at all." Nathan laughed, "that wasn't very subtle, but… I won't look a gift horse in the mouth." He gently took Kristin in his arms. "Why don't we put this bottle on ice, and go for a swim?"

"I don't have a suit." She answered coyly.

"It's a private island."

"Nathan Bridger!" She tapped him lightly on the chest. "Are you suggesting we live in sin?"

His voice was gravely as he held her tighter. "Absolutely."

* * *

The next morning saw the crew gathered around the dock once again, yawning. Nothing was said about the previous day, although there were knowing glances exchanged. "So, the plan," Nathan cleared his throat.

Lucas took the cue and stepped forward, "Martin and I checked out the mining company last night. It's called Rio Tinto Group, and they have a few other places around the globe. This particular mine is run by an Eric Wolfe. It seems to have a decent amount of gems and minerals coming out, but they don't have a large profit margin."

"Any sign on money laundering or corruption?" Nathan asked, ready to accuse the company of wrong doing.

Martin shook head. "Nothing, in fact, they try to hire people from the area and pay a very good wage. Their website showed comfortable lodgings and plenty of activities in the colony." He nodded, acknowledging Nathan's skeptical look. "It's possible that everything we found is part of a publicity stunt though."

"They are still actively looking for people to work there, in all fields." Tim spoke up, "I sent an email saying I was interested again and had some friends who were also looking for jobs. We should have no problem getting in, getting answers is another story."

"Are there enough positions for all of us?" Kristin apprehensively glanced around the group who would going together. "They won't suspect anything?"

"Any mining operation can use another doctor. They're advanced enough to use top of the line computers, so they'd be crazy to turn down the best computer analyst around. And they say they want to protect the surrounding ocean life, they're hiring anyone familiar with that area." Martin explained, "that takes care off Lucas, you, Nathan and I. And they already wanted Tim. All that left is Dag, after a feat of strength or two, he'll win them over."

At this point Commander Ford realized the aforementioned GELF wasn't on the dock with them. They heard happy squealing coming from the water and turned to see Darwin flying over the surface of the water away from Dagwood. He would dive in, and swim back to the large man. Dagwood picked him and threw him again in some backwards form of fetch. "Is that one'a those feats of strength, you're talkin' about?" Tony asked, laughing. "That might jus' scare 'em."

They turned away from the bizarre looking display, and Nathan tried to find the thread of the conversation again. "So, do we have any way to defend ourselves once we're inside?"

"They don't allow weapons, but we are only worried about you." Lucas smirked. Nathan raised one eyebrow at the statement. "It's feasible that we all left the ship, they might not even know who we are. But you are too famous. Your picture was on every news show for weeks after the World Power..." He paused stopping himself from saying a word he knew would get him in trouble. "... issue. You get a fake ID."

He pulled something from his pocket, and passed the captain a laminated card with filled with information. "The beard will help, and this name is close enough if one of us mess up. And, um, we can't call anyone by title... So... here, uh... Nathan."

Nathan simply shrugged at the news he wouldn't be called 'captain,' he wasn't so arrogant that it bothered him. Most of the science staff called him by his given name as it was. He did, however, look at the ID card with misgivings. It belonged to a Nathan Benjamin, with his own face grinning back at him. He frowned at it, "is this just another thing I don't want to know about?"

"You'll be fine, Cap." Tony assured him. "My cousin is the only one who knows that name with this address, and he won't be sendin' no junk mail to ya."


	7. Chapter 7

After saying their goodbyes to the home-base crew and making several last minute adjustment to the cargo, the small crew was ready to go. Nathan was crouched on the edge of the dock, talking to Darwin. "You need to stay here." He told the dolphin firmly, making the appropriate hand signs. "It's too dangerous out there right now."

Darwin chittered angrily in response, splashing his tail. "Please," Nathan pleaded, "stay here." The dolphin gave him one last reproachful look, and dived under the water, quickly disappearing.

"Will he listen?"

Nathan sighed, and turned to face Lucas, who seemed very worried. "I hope so."

"We're ready to go, Captain… I mean… uh, Nathan." Lucas wrinkled is nose in annoyance. "That's going to take some getting used to."

"You and me both, Kiddo." Nathan clapped a hand on his shoulder, and Lucas hurried away.

Before boarding, he stopped to talk to Commander Ford. "I ordered those suits we talked about. They're being sent to the hotel I registered for us. I left the contact information on the desk by the vidphone. It's in Kakadu, we'll be close enough to the mining colony to investigate every day, but far enough way to say we have nothing to do with it, if need be." He added grimly. "I gave… the supplier the number here at the house if there are any problems. Just send the message along to the hotel, the sub will be out of range pretty quickly."

"Supplier?" Jonathan looked suspicious of the use of words. "Who? No… no… Sir, you can't."

Nathan put up his hands in surrender, "I had no choice, he was the only who could get them on this short of notice." Jonathan nodded reluctantly with an irritated expression evident on his face. "Just pass along any messages."

"If I have to deal with any monkeys…" he growled menacingly, as Nathan left to board the sub.

Nathan settled back into the comfortable seat in the front of the sub. "Ready when you are ma'am." Kristin beamed at him for a moment, then engaged the motored, swiftly pulling away from the dock and into the clear water.

The trip went relatively smoothly, after they fixed the weight distribution problem. Whichever side Dagwood was siting on, there had to be at least three others to counter balance. Once they got him to stop following Lucas, everyone could breathe easier without the mini-sub trying to roll.

There were sizable benches on either side, and bunks that pulled down above them. Once curtains were pulled, they had a bit a privacy. This was such an unexpected luxury, they crawled into bed at once to make up for the lost sleep from the night before. With Nathan and Kristin driving, there was a bunk or bench for everyone, and the pilots soon found themselves steering a sub full of snoring passengers.

After a few hours of quiet, Kristin suddenly turned to Nathan. "How long have you had the ring?"

He jumped at unexpected question, then flushed guiltily. "Well, um, about a month before… before you left."

"Why didn't you give it to me?"

"Honestly? I was trying to find the perfect way to do it. Nothing seemed good enough for you. And…" he hesitated, "with how much time I was spending on the ship, I… didn't have a chance to plan much."

Kristin reached over, and squeezed his hand, loosely holding the yolk controls. "On the beach, surrounded by most of the people I care about was perfect." With great difficultly, Nathan kept his hands on the controls and his eyes on the instruments.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Lucas asked, popping his head in the small cockpit several hours later.

"Don't you start that." Nathan snorted, "we have about ten more hours."

Lucas groaned, and dropped into the seat vacated by Kristin minutes before. "Why is it taking so long?"

"This isn't the SeaQuest, Lucas. We don't have the speed nor do we have license to go where ever we want." Nathan scolded him gently, but with a smile.

He rolled his eyes, "yeah, I know that." Lucas looked over the instruments in front of him with an eager expression.

"Do you want to try driving?"

"Could I?"

Nathan shrugged, "it's simpler than the stinger, and," he glanced over his shoulder. "There are three separate two person escape pods, we should be ok."

Lucas snorted with a knowing smirk, "thanks for the vote of confidence."

Nathan relinquished the controls, and after a quick lesson, Lucas was flying solo. "This is very cool, thanks, Captain."

"I'm not your captain right now."

"Oh, right, sorry." Lucas looked at him sidelong. "So, um… congratulations on getting engaged. I didn't get a chance to say before."

"Thank you, I think I'm still in shock that it worked." Nathan chuckled. He caught the uneasy expression crossing Lucas' face. "What is it, Kiddo?"

"Well… um, I was just kinda wondering… what are you going to do after you get married? Both of you?"

Nathan nodded, finally understanding why Lucas hadn't been talking to him as usual since the night before. "I'll be staying on the ship, and if the brass listens to me, Kristin will be joining us. I doubt Wendy will mind, like the mining colony, we can always use another doctor."

Lucas chewed his lips, not responding to the news that Nathan thought he'd thrilled to hear. "But… but what if it doesn't work. If you guys end up hating each other…" his voice dropped to the quietest of whispers, "like my folks."

Taking the controls back from the obviously shaken and concerned teen, Nathan turned off the thrusters, allowing the mini-sub to drift in the minor current. He turned his seat, and swung Lucas' around to face him, looking deep in the troubled blue eyes. "Lucas, that won't happen. Kristin and I are mature enough to know what we want. And honestly, we care too much about you to let that ever happen. We wouldn't put you through that again."

Swallowing deeply, Lucas nodded, "Ok, I'm sorry." He looked down sheepishly, "I guess I'm a little gun shy about it."

Nathan patted his knee, "it isn't your fault, Kiddo." A furious glower came across his face, unseen by Lucas. "If anything, blame your damn selfish parents."

Lucas jerked his head up in surprise, he had never heard his captain voice anything against his mother or father, although he had been able to infer the information clearly. Wincing at his slip, Nathan sighed, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"You're right though." Lucas whispered, lowering his head again, "they are selfish. But you forgot something," He glanced up, his eyes sparking impishly, "they're assholes." He grinned mischievously, daring Nathan to reprimand him.

Nathan let out a laugh before he could stop himself, he unsuccessfully tried to hide it in a cough. "You better get out of here before Kristin catches you talking like that and we both get in trouble."

As the teen scurried from the cockpit, Nathan turned back to the controls, shaking his head. He thought caught a glimpse of a familiar looking grey fin that disappeared before he could inspect it closer. "How do I ground a dolphin?" He mused to himself out loud.

* * *

As they neared the mining colony, Martin brought the mini-sub to the surface. Tony exited, smoothly diving into the warm water and released the WSKR. Lucas took control on his laptop, and sent the information along to Miguel at home-base. "There isn't a strong enough signal for him to control it from there when it's deep, but Miguel said he'd take over while we're inside."

Martin asked for permission to dock, and after receiving the welcome, aligned the small sub to the dry lock. "Ok, I may not be captain right now, but I'll take the lead." Nathan told them sternly. "Lucas, I want you and Dagwood in the back. If anything happens, get back here and send out a call for help, then leave."

Lucas opened his mouth to argue, looking rebellious. "We might need you to save us, Kiddo." Nathan adding, mollifying him slightly.

The door opened to reveal a clean and well lit corridor that ended with two armed guards. The team steadied themselves, and left the relative safety of the mini-sub. They were directed along another hallway, which ended in a grouping of offices. A polite receptionist led them into a conference room where they sat and waited.

The door opened again moments later, a middle aged man walked in and sat at the head of the table. "I understand you want to join our team down here."

Nathan nodded, trying to ignore the fact that he saw two more armed guards positioned just outside the door. He pushed his feelings of unease away, leaving them where he could be alerted, but not distracted by them. "Yes, my friends and I have heard there are opportunities here. Mr. … I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Wolfe, Eric Wolfe."

New alarm flared in Nathan, and he could feel the same coming from his crew. Kristin stared at Lucas intently, as if to signal him to leave immediately. "You run the mine, right? I was not aware some one of your status would be doing the hiring." Nathan said smoothly.

Eric smiled warmly, and looked down at the papers he brought in with him. "Mr. Benjamin, is it? I decided I had to see you for myself when I saw your information." Nathan didn't reply, trying to read the situation. Something was off here, but Wolfe didn't act in a way that was at all threatening. Either he was being hypersensitive, or they were entering a very intense and dangerous game of cat and mouse.

A small device beside their host buzzed, and Wolfe glanced down at it with an amused expression. "He's right this isn't going to work. Great, now I have deal with him sulking around…" Wolfe stood suddenly, "As they say, I believe the jig is up, Captain Bridger."

Nathan stood suddenly, followed almost in step with his crew. "We'll be leaving then." His tone was gruff and commanding, with an audible threat underneath.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Captain." Wolfe said softly, "there is someone who is waiting to meet you."

Martin took a quick step to Wolfe, grabbing hold of his arm securely. "Or you can escort us to our ship."

The door swung open, and a new, calm voice reached them. "You should probably call him off before someone gets hurt."

The jaws of the crew dropped as one in shock, but Lucas was able to find his voice. "What the hell?!" He jumped towards the door, and cocked his fist back at the speaker. "You asshole!"


	8. Chapter 8

The newcomer easily dodged Lucas' wild attack and seizing his wrists, clamped them down to each side of his waist. "Wait kid, I know you're pissed, but let me explain."

"Let me go, Ben, I don't want to hear it." Lucas growled at his former friend.

Ben Krieg's eyes widened in surprise at the venom in the young man's voice. His hands squeezed tighter in desperation. "I couldn't… Please, just give me..."

Everyone stepped forward, but Dagwood was closest and came to the side of the pair, "let Lucas go." His voice was as soft as it always was, but carried the weight of unspoken anger.

"Whoa..." Ben looked at the large GELF for the first time. "Easy big... very very big guy. He's ok, see? No harm done, right kid?" He quickly retreated, releasing Lucas.

Tony took a position on the other side of the former officer. "Are ya hurt Luke? Do you want me to take it out his face?" He snarled, cracking his knuckles as he spoke. "His nose looks like it ain't been broken enough."

"No, I'm fine." Lucas said scornfully, rubbing his wrists. "He isn't worth it."

Ben blinked, looking hurt and guilty at the retort. "Just let me explain..."

Lucas turned his back on him, "you had enough time to explain."

Wolfe broke the tense silence that followed the exchange. "Please, if we could all take a seat and discuss why you're actually here."

With an angry snort, Lucas crossed the room and took a seat as far away from Ben as possible. He smirked coldly when he watched Dagwood and Tony sit on either side of the very uncomfortable looking man. "Someone you know?" Martin whispered, beside him.

"I thought I did." Lucas answered, not bothering to lower his own voice.

Wolfe cleared his throat, "Captain Bridger, what do you know about the current... problem in the area?"

Nathan tore his enraged eyes from Ben and folded his hands, trying to concentrate enough to talk business. "Something large is attacking colonies. It's been reported as a megalodon," he scoffed quietly. "But I find that doubtful. More likely a large great white or even a group of them working together. It's rare, but it happens."

"You don't believe the reports?" Wolfe asked simply. He didn't seem annoyed in the slightest, only calmly watching Nathan.

"I'd believe it easier if I saw some clear pictures."

Wolfe nodded and stood, "I thought you might say that." He walked to one wall of the conference room and punched a button on the paneling. It slid aside revealing a large screen, and after pushing another button, an underwater scene started up. "This site is a only few kilometers away from here." A robotic arm was in the foreground, drilling into some rocks on the ocean floor.

"Most of the actual work is done remotely to prevent injuries. We record it to go back over the footage in case something goes wrong. This," he pointed to the screen, "is a little over a week ago."

The drill continued it's work for a few seconds before it was completely blocked out by something large and grey. Silt was kicked up and as it settled, the crew gasped in collective shock. A shark like beast was taking a bite out the arm, twisting it and snapping it off like it was made of paper.

"How long was that drill?" Kristin asked after she got her breath back.

"Thirty feet of it was showing." Wolfe answered grimly, rewinding the footage and pausing the screen.

Tim shook his head, "that's impossible, it ate half in one bite, it's jaws can't be fifteen feet high. The largest fossils on record aren't even ten."

Wolfe took a dinner plate sized tooth from the panel beside the screen and tossed it on the table. It skidded to a stop in the middle of the group where they stared at it, horrified. "We dug that out of the wall of one of colonies that was attacked. It rammed the walls until they shattered then started taking bites of everything it could reach… including people."

"What did you do?" Kristin breathed, taking the tooth and examining it. "How did you release this monster?"

"We did nothing." Wolfe snapped, showing anger for the first time. "This thing has been attacking us too, I've lost good men to it." His voice quivered and he struggled to control himself.

"But you sat back and let it keep going," Martin stood and began to shout. "You let people die!"

Wolfe slammed his hands down on the table. "We saved people! If we hadn't been out there to answer the distress calls, hundreds more would have died. No one but us believed them when they told the authorities what it was. We risked our own lives to help them."

"You mean to save them from whatever you did." Kristin hissed, now standing and looking quite frightening with the tooth griped in her hand like some primeval ax. "Didn't you know, Mr. Wolfe? Wildlife tends to get a bit tetchy when you poison it or it's food."

Eric Wolfe came face to face with her, causing the crew to stand protectively. Only a wave from Kristin kept an all-out brawl from starting. Bile rose in Lucas' throat when he noted Ben behind not his old crew, but his new boss. "Test the tooth, test the water. We did not poison anything."

"Gladly." Kristin growled, stalking to the door and quickly followed by the rest of the crew.

Wolfe sat in a chair heavily. "That went well."

"I told you they're pretty protective of the oceans." Ben said, looking at his boss sadly. "I didn't expect Lucas to act like that though." He sighed, "I knew he'd be mad, but I thought he'd give me a chance to tell him why I had to do it."

Wolfe nodded, "you can blame me for that, maybe it'll help." He sighed, "I've made a lot of mistakes, but we didn't do this... There's no way it could have been us." The older man hid his face in his hands. "Do you think they'll help us?"

"Depends on how honest you want to be. If they find out we know more than we're saying… well, even telling them it was us who leaked the pictures won't save us."

"I told you there is no way it could the fields, it isn't strong enough and it doesn't reach beyond the drill sites. It has to be something else." Wolfe argued wearily. "And even beyond showing the world what was going on, we did everything we could. People died, but this isn't our fault. It can't be our fault. We had no idea anything like this would or even could happen."

"The road to hell is littered with the best of intentions"

Wolfe raised his head and smirked, "You read the bible?"

"No, Katie used to say that to me..."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: Drunken posting may just get me in trouble here, so if you don't like it, blame the wine!**

* * *

The crew was lead down the maze of corridors by the friendly receptionist. She pointed out the different amenities the underwater colony offered to residents and visitors. "Yeah, that's all great." Tony snorted, "have a beer, watch a movie, get eaten by big fish."

"Stop calling it a fish, Tony." Lucas sighed.

"What's the dif?"

"Bones, they don't have bones."

Tony blinked in confusion, "what's to keep them from goin all smushy?"

Lucas rolled his eyes, "they have hard cartilage."

Ignoring the banter around him, Nathan turned to the receptionist. "Where are you taking us? This isn't the way we came in. Did he order you to keep us here?"

The receptionist gaped at him. "No, no sir. You can stay on your sub, but we have living quarters for you. You are free to come and go as you please. And," She gestured to a wide hallway, "you have access to almost all of our scientific equipment."

Nathan inspected her closely for any sign of a falsehood, to his surprise, tears glistened in her eyes. "Please, you have to stay though. You have to stop this thing."

"We'll try our best, Ms. …" He hesitated.

"Saffron Reynolds, people call me Saf." She smiled through her tears.

Nathan debating the ethics of badgering the upset woman for information. "What do you know about what's happening?"

She shrugged, "as much as anyone. I… I know a few of the people who were killed. And I know Mr. Wolfe has halted almost all drilling to figure out what's going on. That's never happened before. The CEO of the company is threatening to fire him if we don't start up again." Saf sighed and shook her head. "We are already using so many experimental designs, and they don't always work, so our output isn't what they want."

"Experimental?" Kristin jumped on the term. "What kind of experimental?"

"You'll have to ask Mr. Wolfe, I'm not sure how much I can tell you about. Not that I know a lot about it anyhow." She added with another shrug.

The hallway ended, and Saf opened a door. "This is your quarters, for as long as you need." They stepped in and stopped short, staring in wonder.

There were floor to ceiling windows, one side of the large living room showed the ocean while the other looked over the buildings and walk ways of the colonies. Lucas peered through one and saw families enjoying a park. Children were even playing with different animals in a small wooded area. He whistled in amazement. "Is this all real?"

"Yes," Saf nodded, "the plants help with oxygen production and we shipped in native animals to help with the stress of living underwater for long periods of time. We even managed raise a lot of our own food."

"Are these windows safe?" Tim asked uneasily, looking out into the dark blue water. "If the shark starts ramming…"

"They're a foot thick, the strongest we could get." Saf said smoothly, as if she had given the speech several times to worried visitors. "And the shark hasn't been close to us."

Nathan perked up, "it hasn't? Do know the closest it's been?"

"I think the drill site to the south last week, and it was gone pretty fast." She said thoughtfully. "Maybe it doesn't like all the noise here."

Kristin shook her head, "but it wouldn't have attacked the other colonies if that was the case. It has to be something else."

Saf frowned, "I'm sorry I don't know what else it would be, but we seem to be safe here."

"Thank you, Saffron." Nathan opened the door for her, and shook her hand.

She took the subtle dismissal gracefully and nodded, "Dinner is in three hours, if you want it delivered, call me. The vidphone here will only connect to my desk. I can place any outgoing calls for you." Saf smiled, "thank you, for whatever you can do, thank you." She waved shortly, and walked out with a hopeful expression.

"Might as well start running some tests," Lucas sighed. He pulled open his bag that sat on the pile of their luggage. He paused to inspect the inside, nothing seemed to be disturbed, but he wasn't happy that some one had handled it without permission.

Tony grabbed his own bag and started digging. "You do that, Luke, I see a beach down there."

"You live underwater, you have gills, you can swim any time…" Lucas laughed, showing a better mood since Ben crashed the meeting.

"But… there's chicks down there…" Tony said sadly, looking through the windows. "And I'm fresh meat." He flashed a toothy grin. "They'll eat you up too, come on, we could use a little relaxation."

"You're just going to trick them into thinking you're drowning to get mouth to mouth." Tim pointed out wisely.

"Hey, it works." Tony pouted, "it works every time I try it."

"How many times have you tried it?" Nathan asked in amusement.

"Well, uh…I... Cap…you see..." Tony stuttered.

Nathan waved him off, "it doesn't matter. Yes, if any of you want to take a break, you're welcome to. I wouldn't mind getting some sleep myself.

"I have to agree," Martin said, looking into one of the bedrooms. "I didn't get much in that tin can."

Kristin squinted at him playfully, "just because you have an aversion to boats, doesn't mean you get to criticize my sub." He gulped under her stare and disappeared through the doorway without another word.

Nathan laughed, "ok, the old folks will stay here. And you four; no scaring the residents. Keep your noses clean, but keep an ear out for information, someone may let something slip. Meet back here for dinner."

* * *

"Well, that's strange." Lucas muttered, scowling at his computer.

"Stranger than someone your age bringing a computer to a beach?" Tim teased with a raised eyebrow. "Or, stranger than either of them?" He pointed out towards the water. A group of children were following Dagwood around, watching him with wide eyes. Every time he turned his head toward them, they would scatter or dive under the water. Tony, meanwhile, kept popping up in different areas of the large false lake, splashing women and causing screams of surprise. Quite a few slaps followed the screams.

Lucas chuckled, "I'd say just seeing you in swim trunks, without piles of sunscreen on, is the strangest."

Tim looked down at his thin pale form, "hey… I try."

"Yeah, if the lights ever go off on SeaQuest, we can use you like Rudolph." Lucas dodged the empty plastic cup that was chucked at his head. "Look at this." He pointed to his screen. "I got into the real time schematics, the power usage for this room is ridiculous."

"What is it?" Tim leaned over to see, "supply closet? That's suspicious."

"Yup." Lucas closed his laptop with a snap. "I'm gonna check it out."

Tim started to stand, "no, you should stay here. Two people sneaking around will be easier to catch than one." Lucas poked a thumb over his shoulder, "keep an eye on him. If he starts to follow me, distract him."

Opening his mouth to argue, Tim followed the gesture. A tall dark haired figure was lurking in an alcove watching them. He sighed, and nodded, "yeah, ok. But you'll have to talk to him at some point."

Lucas didn't respond, instead, gripping his laptop tightly and jogging out of the large communal area. A few quick turns brought him to the spot he saw marked on his computer. A simple blank door locked by a control panel stood in front of him. Lucas typed in a few commands of his own design, and was greeted with ping and click. He pulled the door open and shut it silently behind him.

In front of him was no supply closet. It was a circular room full of equipment, the centered, and easily the largest piece was humming loudly. "I wonder what this does, Mr. Wolfe." Lucas set his computer down and started to investigate. He wished he had thought to grab is phone to take pictures, but was sure he'd be able to get back in at any point. Although he hadn't had much time to hack the system completely, he was confident there was no security set up to alert when someone entered a room.

The screen on the large machine was displaying a read out listing different contaminates. "I thought you didn't poison anything." He muttered to himself. There was also a screen listing only random wattage and voltage amounts. Lucas' finger was hovering above it when he heard the door click open behind him.

He dove to find cover around the corner of a desk, grunting in pain as he landed hard on his bare knees. He slid himself around to be able to see what was coming, just as footsteps entered the room. They circled the area he been in, pausing by the counter.

Lucas mentally cursed himself for leaving the laptop out in the open and tried to tuck himself farther back, but hit a wall with the bottom of his sneakers.

An annoyed sigh burst out above him, and Lucas jerked his head up, connecting with the edge of the desk. Stars exploded in his vision as and a shooting pain raced along his scalp. A hand reached around the desk and pulled him upright. "I told him you'd find this room right away, and you'd get past his stupid lock. But does he listen to me? No, of course not."

Lucas was pushed into a seat, blinking and trying to prevent the dark tunnel that was closing in. "Now you have to listen to me, kid. No giants around to save you."

"Ben? What… why did you…" the teen slumped in the seat, not feeling the hand that grabbed him before he hit the floor.


	10. Chapter 10

"I'm sorry sir, he wouldn't let me come with him. I tried to keep an eye on Krieg, but that woman started asking me about Dag... And… and he was gone." Tim flushed guilty, staring at the floor.

Nathan waved the apology away impatiently. "It's not your fault, Tim. Lucas can find trouble in a kiddy pool full of foam balls." He paused, wrinkling his forehead, "he has, in fact."

"How long has he been gone?" Kristin asked anxiously.

Tim glanced at a clock on the wall. "Nearly an hour, Ben disappeared about five minutes after he left.

"Ben and him usta be friends, right? He wouldn't hurt Luke... Right?" Tony sounded uncharacteristically worried.

Nathan sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "A year ago, I would have said no way. Ben's saved his life. But now... I just don't know."

Martin came into the main living area, "I called Saffron and asked her to deliver our meal. That should stop any questions about where he is, for a time."

"Where is Lucas?" Dagwood asked, looking at their worried faces in confusion.

"I wish I knew," Nathan answered, frustration evident in his every syllable. "He could be inspecting the internal workings of the main frame in some heating duct, or he could be in serious trouble and needing our help."

* * *

There were two voices talking about him as Lucas struggled back into consciousness. His muddled and aching brain tried to make sense of them, but couldn't come to grips with much of what was being said around him.

"What happened to his hands and knees?"

"I don't know for sure, they were like that when I found him. He's still wearing trunks from the beach, he probably hit the floor at a skid, these cement floors will tear anyone up."

Why didn't you call the doctor?!"

"Do you know what it would look like? They already think I'm the bad guy, he was alone with me for a whole minute and got knocked out. They'd be out for my blood."

"I think you're underestimating yourself, Ben. They know you're a good man."

"You didn't see their faces when we were taking with Eric." The voice Lucas was able to finally recognize as his former friend's, sounded bitter and discouraged.

"Besides," he continued, "the kid has a hard head, he'll be fine. Now get out of here. I think he's waking up, I still need you as my ace in the hole."

"This is stupid," the other voice said, although in a whisper. "I'm getting sick of this cloak and dagger bullshit."

A door slammed and a gentle hand bushed at Lucas' bangs. "Come on kid, wake up. I don't need Kristin any more pissed than she already is."

"Geroffme," Lucas muttered, pushing the hand away. He opened his eyes, then closed them tightly. "Ow... What did you do?"

Ben chuckled, "nothing, actually. I surprised you when you were hiding, and you hit your head. Can you sit up?"

With a sigh and a grunt, Lucas squinted open his eyes and pushed himself upright. He felt Ben guiding him by the upper arm and furiously shook him off. "Stop it! Stop acting like my friend."

"Let's get one thing straight." Ben snapped, still holding him and forcing the young man to look at him. "I am still your friend. I know I messed up, but I didn't have a choice. I probably could have handled it better, but I didn't. I'm trying to fix it now."

"So now what?" Lucas grimaced as Ben's angry voice made his head pound worse.

"So now you're going to here and listen to what I have to say."

Lucas glared at him, "what, that am I your hostage? I learned some dirty little secret I'm not supposed to know, and now you'll keep me locked in a cupboard until I behave?"

Ben jerked away from him, looking horrified. "Is that really what you think of me?" His shoulders slumped and his head dropped. "In that case, just go, it doesn't matter what I say."

"Well... um..." Lucas felt a surge of guilt and pity at his defeated tone. "No, not really. I'll... I'll listen."

"Thank you," Ben replied quietly. "Um… do you want to get off the floor?"

Lucas looked around himself for the first time and realized he was sitting on the floor, leaning on a desk front. Ben was crouched in front of him, still looking downtrodden. "How did I get here?"

"When you blacked out, I couldn't get you back on the chair. You put some weight on since I saw you last, kid." Ben explained, standing and sliding an office chair towards him.

"It's muscle." Lucas grumbled without any real irritation.

"Yeah, right." Ben waited until Lucas looked comfortable, and not about to topple again. "So, um, remember when the ship exploded?"

"Vividly."

"Right, stupid question." Ben sighed, "ok, I tired working at a few different places. Turns out, customer service isn't the best place for a smart ass."

Lucas grinned, "that I knew. There's no way you could be keeping the same job with all the different address you were at."

"Yeah…" Ben rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "So after about ten different places, I got wind of a job offer for a supply officer in mining colony. I thought it was perfect. I didn't want to say anything to you until I had it. I got here, and was practically hired on the spot. I didn't even have time to call you before I was moving in down here. After I was in, they told me about not being allowed to call out. Saffron may be a sweet heart, but she caught me trying a few times… you think Kristin is bad when she's pissed…" He winced in an exaggerated way, causing Lucas to chuckle. Spurred on by the reaction, Ben plowed ahead.

"Eric didn't fully trust me right away, and kept me in the dark for a while. But after I looked over some of the orders he gave me, I realized he was trying to build something. I kept asking him about it, and he finally admitted what he was doing. I finally understood all the secrecy, I knew why he can't let any of this out."

"But why didn't you tell me after he trusted you?" Lucas asked, wounded by the memory. "You just vanished, I thought you were dead."

Ben chewed his lip. "I know, I am sorry. I made the mistake of telling Eric about you one day. He was convinced that if you knew where I was you'd hack the system." He chuckled, "he didn't believe me when I said you'd do worse if I didn't contact you."

"Oh… and I did." Lucas looked at him sheepishly, "sorry about that letter."

"I wasn't surprised. Hacking into my bank records was one way to make sure I was alive." His eyes twinkled with amusement before he spoke again. "The letter you sent with the copy of the records was very… revealing. I'd like to know where you learned to swear like that, it takes a lot to shock a Navy man. And I don't think I've ever even seen those words in print before."

Lucas laughed out loud, "will that stop you from calling me kid?"

"Never." Ben shot back easily. "So," he continued, "after I got the last letter, I knew I had to get… a little harsh. Um… maybe too harsh. And since you didn't answer me, I knew it worked. I just wanted to keep you, and I from getting in trouble. If Eric knew you went as far as you did, he would have flipped out. He's a good guy, he's just twitchy about what we've done here."

"What are they doing here?" Lucas interrupted him.

"Honestly? Just mining, but with the most advanced drills and refining techniques ever used. If any of this was leaked," he waved to the machines behind him, "the entire company would be ruined. They've invested billions in it, so far it's been working at a sustainable level, but barely, we need more time to work on it."

Lucas shook his head, "I still can't believe you'd have anything to do with this kind of thing. I know you'll go after a quick buck, but they're killing the oceans."

"Says who?" Ben smirked at him.

"The monitor, it said something about contamination levels." Lucas pointed, knowing he was missing something purely from Ben's expression.

"Did you get to read it before I busted in on you?"

"Well… not really," Lucas admitted with a grimace.

Ben nodded to the machine in question, "go ahead."

Lucas let out a groan as he stood, glancing down at his abraded palms and knees. "That's why I always wear jeans."

"In case you have to dive behind a desk?"

"Something like that."

Walking stiffly to the monitor, Lucas blinked in disbelief and shook his head. "I know I got knocked silly, but how is this possible?"

"What do you see?" Ben asked, smiling widely, watching his shocked face.

"These levels are lower than any I've seen, like, ever. This is impossible." Lucas tapped a few buttons, "this is right next to the mine?" Ben nodded, but wasn't even seen. "And farther away from here… it's higher? This is impossible."

"So much doubt for such a young man." Ben said in a fake mournful voice.

"But… how?"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you… or at least lock you in a cupboard."


	11. Chapter 11

Lucas didn't shake off the supportive arm provided by Ben on their way back to the visitor's quarters. His head was still spinning, both from the knock he took and the information he learned. That, combined with his knees and hands oozing blood, caused him to hiss in pain with every step. Lucas was actually grateful for the extra care. "We're going to get yelled at you know." He gasped after easing down a short flight of stairs.

"Just blink those big blue eyes and look sad, no one can stay angry at you then." Ben smirked at him, "and maybe toss your hair a little."

Lucas tried to glare at him, but when he looked away from where he was stepping, he stumbled. Ben caught him easily and used the pause to inspect his knees. "I think we're leaving a trail."

"Not a lot we can do about it until we back to the room. It seemed a lot closer before." Lucas sighed, leaning against a wall, fighting sudden dizziness.

A few people stopped to stare at the pair, but a Ben waved them past. "We're fine, go gawk at someone else."

Lucas watched them scurry away with a chuckle. "You really hold some sway here, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Ben said, smiling imperiously.

"But not enough to tell me what that machine did?" Lucas needled him.

Ben's smile slid off quickly as he narrowed his eyes. "Come on, start walking before I pick you up and carry you there."

"I'll sic Dagwood on you." Lucas grumbled, pushing off the wall and resuming the arduous journey.

It was only minutes later that they reached their destination, but Lucas was sweating freely and leaning heavily on Ben. He was no longer trying to hide the amount of pain he was in. Ben kept glancing at him worriedly. With his free hand, the former officer banged on the door. There was a scrambling inside, followed by hushed voices. "It's Krieg, I have Lucas, he needs help." He called through the door.

It was opened immediately by Kristin, who sucked in a breath at the sight of them. "What ever happened?"

"I was practicing my duck and cover technique." Lucas muttered, shuffling into the room. He nearly fell again, but was caught by Dagwood. "Thanks Dag."

Kristin rounded on Ben who backed up defensively, "what did you do to him?"

"It wasn't his fault." Lucas sighed and dropped onto the couch. "Well, not completely."

Ben nodded, but kept his hands upraised to abate some of Kristin's fury. "I just interrupted his sulking and he hit his head… and his knees, and palms. Um, is there any way I won't get blamed for this?"

"That'll depend on if he needs stiches." Kristin said loftily, examining Lucas's legs. "Can you get my med-kit? It's on the table."

Both Ben and Dagwood moved to fetch the bag, but Dagwood turned suddenly, giving Ben a long and introspective look. "Ok, ok," Ben stopped in his tracks raising his hands again. "I'll just sit over here."

"Mr. Krieg," Kristin called over her shoulder as she worked on Lucas. "Could you see what you can do about calling Nathan back? We have no way of contacting him."

"Yes, of course. Where is he?"

"Everyone expect Dagwood and I are out looking for you two."

"Oh, yeah, um… of course." Ben replied sheepishly. He crossed to the vidphone, and waited for Saffron to pick up.

"Mr. Krieg? What are you doing in the visitor quarters?" She asked suspiciously, eyeing the others around him.

"Don't worry about that right now, I need you send out a message for Nathan Bridger and his crew to come back here."

"He's already on his way. We just got a report of you escorting Mr. Wolenczak down the hall covered in blood. He was talking to Mr. Wolfe when it came in. That man did not look happy."

Ben grimaced, "great, thanks Saf."

"Did you expect any different?" Kristin chided, now carefully parting Lucas' hair to check the wound there. Ben didn't answer, instead he sat in a chair farthest from the door and waited his fate.

The door burst open and Nathan took in the scene. Martin, Tony, and Tim were directly behind him and nearly knocked him over in their haste to get in. "Are you ok?" Nathan asked quietly, noting the blood and slightly dazed expression on the young man's face.

"He has a mild concussion, and plenty of deep scrapes and bruises, but nothing is broken, he'll be fine." Kristin answered for him, dabbing at the injuries with antiseptic. "Some bed rest is all he needs."

Lucas groaned, "that's your cure for everything. I think you just like sending me to bed."

Kristin briefly considered swatting him, but settled for a severe expression. "Go clean up and lay down. If you argue anymore, I'll give you a sponge bath." Lucas shot up like a rocket and loped from the room in terror. "Hmm, I'll have to remember that threat."

"So, whatta we doin' with him?" Tony drawled from the side of the room. He, Tim, Martin, and Dagwood were all standing around Ben, towering over the man.

Ben pressed himself against the wall, but didn't appear to be cowering or trying to escape. "Hopefully, talking to me before giving me a beating." He called from under Dagwood's crossed arms.

Leaning on the side of the couch, Nathan surveyed the scene in front of him. "So, talk. What did you do?"

"It was an accident." Ben said promptly.

Tim scoffed, and Tony cracked his knuckles. "I can smell the guilt on 'em Cap. Jus' like a snitch back home."

"Really?" Ben looked at Tony scornfully, "this is who you replaced me with? He sounds like a bad gangster movie."

"Stop delaying, tell us what you did." Nathan ordered.

"The short version is I found Lucas sneaking around where he wasn't supposed to be and startled him. He tried to hide and banged himself up." Ben let out in a rush. A direct command from his former captain didn't seem to be something he could completely ignore. "I didn't mean for him to get hurt… in any way." He added quietly.

Tim read his expression closely. "I believe him." He held out a hand and pulled Ben to his feet. "You may try a lot of selfish things, but you'd never hurt one of us on purpose."

"Thank you," Ben nodded, not meeting his eyes. "That actually means a lot to me, Timmy."

"You can back off, everyone." Nathan said softly. "Ben, we are going to have a long talk about what is going on around here." Ben opened his mouth, his eyes darting around worriedly. "Do it for Lucas, I'd rather he not have another _accident_ looking for more information."

"Ok," Ben dropped into the couch beside Nathan, "ok, for Lucas." He took a deep breath, "after a few… failed ventures, I was hired here. I figured out what Wolfe was building and decided to help him. I had the contacts to make it happen. He's very protective of his invention though. If he even knew I was telling you about it…"

"Has he threatened you?" Kristin asked gently, misinterpreting the troubled expression on Ben's face.

"What? No! He's not the bad guy. This isn't anything we could have ever planned, or imagined." Ben grew agitated, and sprang up from the couch, pacing. "The drills and the refining process are all his design, he just need some help getting them up and running. That's what Lucas was looking at when I found him." He turned to Nathan, a mildly manic smile on his lips. "We figured out how mine anything out of anywhere without killing the plant and animal life around it. We're even cleaning the pollution from other operations."

The jaws in the room dropped, "how?" Kristin sputtered, "how is that possible?"

Ben laughed, "it's so insanely simple. Ka… um… _We_ couldn't believe no one thought about it before this."

"You were going to say Katie." Nathan tilted his head, "she's part of this?"

"Yeah, she's here right now. Wolfe couldn't put all the pieces together. I called her up and she built the machinery. She knows every little part of it. I can explain the basics, but if you want the whole story, you'll have to talk to her." He admitted. "I was um, waiting to reveal her in case you didn't trust me."

Nathan wanted to argue, but knew there was merit to the plan. "Ok, so we trust you, I'd still like talk to her and have her explain the whole thing."

Ben started to walk to the vidphone but stopped in his tracks when a siren went off throughout the room. A cool calm voice spoke over the siren. "Attention all available personal. There has been another attack, please proceed to the docking bay to await orders for the rescue mission."

"Or, we could go fight the megalodon right now." Ben said turning on his heel. "Come on, they'll need all the help they can get."


	12. Chapter 12

Lucas tore out of the bedroom after the announcement. "No! Absolutely not, you are staying here." Kristin glowered at him. "Back in bed."

"I want to help." He snapped back, holding the doorframe to keep from swaying.

"She's right Lucas, you need to stay. You can barely stand." Nathan glanced at Dagwood, "stay with him, don't let him leave the room."

Dagwood nodded gravely, taking position beside the door out of the living quarters. "I don't need a damn babysitter." Lucas spat in exasperation.

"I don't have time to argue this with you, stay here." Nathan growled, looking furious. He turned and jogged from the room, the rest of the crew at his heels.

Ben quickly took the lead, taking them the fastest route to the docking bay. They entered the large area to see Wolfe organizing everyone. "Captain Bridger, if you are willing, I can really use your people."

"Yes, of course. What do you need?"

"Dr. Westphalen and Mr. O'Neil should be on The Barge, it's the biggest sub and will pick up most of the injured people. This is an Indonesian colony, we'll need help translating. And…" he swallowed, "there are reports of injured children, we need to hurry."

Tim and Kristin raced to the docking vessel, quickly being absorbed by the crowd. "We also need people to search the areas around our own colony, this is the closest attack other than the drill. I don't know if it's still out there or if it will come for us."

"I can drive the FlamFish, if nothing else, it may distract the shark or even scare it off." Martin offered. A curt nod from Wolfe sent him on his way.

"I'd like to send more people in diving equipment to help anyone trapped where the subs can't fit," Wolfe glanced at Tony, "are you certified?

Tony flashed a grin, "better than that." He turned, and pulled up his shirt to flash his gills. "I jus' don't wanna get eaten."

"I might have a way to prevent that." A female voice said from behind them.

Nathan spun to see Katie looking calm and in control. She tossed a stripped wetsuit at Tony. "Can your gills work through that?"

He inspected the suit, complete with fully stocked utility belt. After pulling out a diving knife, he made a neat slice across the lower back of the suit. "Now they can." He started to strip amid the commotion and Ben helped him pull on the suit, there was just no time for modesty.

"You can come with Katie and I in one of the small subs, I'll let you out as soon as we're clear of the other vehicles." Ben told the half-naked man.

Nathan smiled, dispite the situation, "those were supposed to go to the hotel."

"Yeah, well I figured you'd end up staying here." Ben shrugged as he finished helping Tony. "And it's a great idea, I got them for all of our divers." He turned away and clapped Tony on the back. "Ok new guy, lets see what you got." They jogged to the waiting mini-sub trading barbs as they went.

Nathan was pleased to see them working together and the general efficiency around him, but turned to Wolfe. "What about me? How can I help?"

After an appraising look, Wolfe spoke. "I won't order you to, but I'd appreciate you staying here. There will be a lot of panicked people coming in, I'll need your leadership skills to help."

"Deal," Nathan agreed grimly, "but after this is all done, you're telling me exactly what is going on around here"

"I don't think I have a choice anymore." Wolfe said, sadly watching the organized chaos around him.

* * *

"Not that I ain't gonna laugh atta good joke," Tony started, doubtfully looking down at the thick swiggily lines of his wetsuit. "But how's makin me look like a con from an old prison movie gonna help me from gettin eaten?"

"It's modeled after a sea snake, they're very poisonous. Nothing will touch you." Katie explained from the controls of her sub. "Hopefully."

"I heard that." Tony muttered.

Ben tossed him a headpiece, "here, keep in contact with us, just call out for the Gazelle. And if you see the shark get back to us or the colony right away."

"No kiddin', you're lookin' at the wrong guy if you think I'll be some fool hero." Tony grumbled as he climbed into the airlock.

The work went at a feverish pace. Divers knocked on every unbroken hull piece they could find, and radioed back to the subs when they got a response. The med team, lead by Kristin, didn't get a chance to even think, they were just working on autopilot. Finally after hours, the last colonist was pulled from the destroyed building and transported. After one last check of the area, the all clear call came through. The subs started to pull back to dock.

Martin radioed over to Katie and Ben, "I'd like to get some closer looks and pictures of the bite marks while we're out here, if that's ok."

"Feel free, Tony can help you if he's not too tired." Ben called back, "we'll check in with Eric and be back if you need us."

"Any causality numbers yet?"

"They're still doing recounts, but looks like we saved all but ten. Out of over a thousand, I'd call that a win." Ben reported. "Unless something changes, everyone is accounted for, living and dead."

"Are you ok to keep going, Tony?" Martin asked next.

"Yeah, I'm good, but you owe me a corn dog when we get back."

Martin saw a flash of black and white swimming ahead of him. "If we catch this thing, we can all have shark steaks for a year." He snorted.

Tony swam straight for the largest hole in the side of the now destroyed colony. He turned a fast and startled somersault in the water when a large blinking orb came after him. "Damn it, Luke, warn a guy won'tcha?" Tony offered a rude hand gesture to the WSKR, it paused and blinked back at him. "I don't know no Morse code but if that was about my ma..."

After checking out a large and now empty storage deck, with the WSKR at his back, Tony activated his radio. "Uh, we mighta missed some one." He paused beside a particularly ragged bite mark, cursing as the WSKR ran into him. "There's a lot of blood in the water here."

"I don't think that's human, there's too much" Martin answered in a hushed voice after seeing it drift by. "Get in here, it must still be close!"

Even as he said it, an immense form burst from the opening. Tony caught sight of a large red gash in one side streaming blood as it whipped past him. The megalodon went straight for the FlamFish, grabbing it in it crushing jaws.

Tony heard screams of pain joined with a screeching crunch. "Martin! Talk to me man!"

He watched in horror as bubbles flooded from the sub. The graceful looking orbs engulfed the shark. It bellowed, and Tony had to slap his hands over his ears to keep out the painfully loud noise. The shark started to shake it's head from side to side, tearing into the metal even more. Not knowing if Martin was still alive, Tony launched himself at the animal. The bloody slash was within in arms reach, and he took hold of it, pulling at the torn skin. "Here sharky sharky sharky, drop the toy!"

The shark released the sub and turned smoothly to face Tony, leaving a chunk of flesh in the surprised man's hands. "Oh shit that may have been a bad idea!"

He heard a groan over his headset, and made a decision. "If you can hear me Chief, get outta here. If I live, there are a few tickets you gotta fix for me. If I die... give my family my metals." Tony pulled the diving knife from his belt and buried in the eye on the giant shark, holding it tightly to stay clear of the gaping maw. The beast thrashed in agony, and took off into the deep water with Tony still gripping the hilt of the blade. The WSKR frantically tried to follow behind them, but was quickly lost.


	13. Chapter 13

Grateful he had taken the time to memorize the layout of the colony, Lucas able to lose Dagwood in a short cut, and hit the docking bay in a dead run. "Captain! Tony..."

"We know, we're leaving now." Nathan interrupted him, and waved him onto Katie's sub. "We heard on the radio. How did you know?"

He breathlessly jumped inside, slamming the door behind him. "I had the WSKR out. Tony stabbed the shark and disappeared with it."

"We got Martin on the radio, he's badly hurt and can't steer the FlamFish, but he'll live. After we tow him in, we're going after Tony."

"Why can't someone else get Martin?" Lucas asked wildly.

"We're the only ones who still have enough power, everyone is recharging." Nathan informed him patiently, "we'll get him back."

Katie leaned around the side of her pilot's chair, "we're ready to go sir, better strap yourself in in case it comes after us." She nodded to Lucas, "hey, I hoped for a better time to greet you, but..." Lucas nodded in turn and waved, not trusting his voice.

He sat, his leg jiggling up and down at a rapid pace. Unable to control himself and needing to get rid of the adrenaline coursing through him, Lucas jumped up again. "Come on, come on, come on." He muttered, looking through the windows, and urging the sub forward.

It took nearly half an hour for the team to finish setting up the towline for the FlamFish. Lucas watched the divers through the windows the entire time, hissing a line of curse words as they worked.

After they finished, Nathan finally got sick of Lucas' restless pacing, and he pushed him back down into a seat. "It's hasn't been very long since he disappeared, we'll be back with Martin in a minute and then we'll find him." Lucas looked up at him, chewing his lip. "You know Tony's tough, he probably found a beach full of swimsuit models already."

Lucas managed to give a small smile, "all I keep thinking is the divers are taking too long. Tony never takes that long when we need him." He dropped his voice, and cast a baleful expression at the diver from the colony. The man was stripping off his tank, looking exhausted from the short work of connecting the FlamFish to Katie's sub.

"He doesn't need tanks or even a suit half the time. He just jumps in." Lucas sighed, "it's like we need a Tony just to save Tony. Think we can clone him?"

"Having two of Tony Piccolo seems like a terrible idea." Nathan smirked, "he gets into enough trouble by himself... and with you."

"Yeah yeah, I find it everywhere." Lucas scowled in annoyance, but seemed to heart from his captain's gentle teasing. He forced himself to think more possibly about the situation.

A moment later, the sub docked, and Katie radioed to the med deck. "This is Gazelle, I've got one injured coming in. One compound fracture to the arm and probable broken collar bone."

"Understo... Gazelle? This wouldn't be Katie would it?" Tim's surprised voice answered.

"O'Neill, they let you have the radio?" She laughed in reply.

"Some of the colonists only speak a nearly extinct dialog. I'm in contact with some of their families." He said dryly. She could picture the awkward smile on his face.

"Well, glad to have you then."

"I'll notify Kristin, she's already up to her elbows in injuries, but she'll find a place for him." His tone changed one of tightly bound nervousness. "Is Captain Bridger with you?"

Nathan slipped on a headset. "I'm here."

"Sir, Commander Ford has been trying to get through to you, by the sound of it, he's ready to take on the entire Micronesian fleet just to find you. I can connect you."

"Go ahead."

There were a few clicks and a hiss of a long distance connection. "Captain?" The familiar and very concerned sounding voice came through. "Are you free to talk?"

"Yes, Jonathan, is everything ok?"

"Yes, sir." Ford sighed wearily. "The hotel said you never checked in and I couldn't find any way to contact you."

Nathan smiled warmly at the thought of man's protectiveness of his crew, "we're ok at the moment. There was a slight trust issue with us calling out. I should be in touch more regularly now."

"Thank you, sir."

"And," Nathan added, "after I have a little talk with Wolfe, I _will_ be sending some pictures for the UEO. Hopefully it'll be enough to get their asses in gear. We need more firepower down here."

"Good to know, sir." Ford sighed, "I'll see about getting the SeaQuest ready to go."

"Have you slept since we left, Commander?" Nathan asked, hearing the exhaustion in Ford's voice.

"Well... um... we were…"

"All if you get some rest, that's an order."

"Yes, sir, I'll tell them."

"You too, Jonathan. Things aren't quite what we thought here, we aren't in any immediate danger, for the moment."

"Yes, sir." Ford sounded relived, if a little sheepish. He hesitated a few seconds, "I heard about Tony, any sign of him?"

"No, not yet. He has to be out there somewhere."

* * *

Tony floated in absolute darkness, the pressure of the depth pounded at his head. "Ok, so where's up?"

Not for the first time in his life, Tony cursed the team of doctors who gave him his gills. Doing deeper and deeper dives for SeaQuest had taught him that without air in his lungs, he lost his natural buoyancy to keep his head up and feet down. Since no one thought to give him a swim bladder along with the gills, it could be problematic. Normally, he swam with Darwin or a WSKR when he went deep. He had no such luxury this time.

A dim light flashed near his hand and he jerked away before realizing it followed him. He brought his hand close to his face and turned it. It was glowing. "Huh, well, that's new. It'll be my new super power. Gillman with glowy hand."

The errant thought caused a giggle to burst from Tony's lips in the form of several tiny bubbles. They rose and caressed his face, tickling him. He giggled again, then shook his head, trying to decide why he felt so giddy. He knew he probably should be much more worried about his current situation, but couldn't make the feeling arise. Tony tried to remember exactly what happened to get him where he was to take stock of things.

Several minutes after the shark had raced away, with him holding on for dear life, the membrane of the eye finally ripped apart. In his shock at the sudden stop of movement, Tony had dropped the knife, and his only weapon dropped swiftly out of sight.

Carefully, he started to swim towards what he thought was the surface of the water. Light still didn't appear, but the crushing pressure seemed to dissipate some. Tony reached up to try his radio but found it missing. It had been torn from his face in the struggle with the megalodon.

"The one time I really need a ride..." Tony groaned, and started swimming again. Murky light appeared above him, and Tony jerked his tired muscles and sore joints into overdrive, trying to reach it.

Every time he caught a glimpse of the fading and eery light coming from his hand, Tony would flinch. Part of him understood it was something that couldn't attack but in sense deadening nothingness, his mind brought up everything he had learned about the deep sea. Images of ghost sharks, goblin sharks, and even mega mouth sharks flickered through his head. It didn't matter that none of them attacked people, their ghastly looks had cemented themselves in Tony's subconscious and were haunting him now.

"Next time Tim n' Luke make me watch some stupid ocean documentary, it better Bikini Babes three." He growled to himself.

Something bumped into his legs, and he screamed, trying to scramble away from it. It was still too dark for him to see what was touching him, and he kicked wildly. A foot connected with whatever was with him, he went completely still, watching below him. A dark shadow came at him, now face to face. It bumped his shoulder, then gripped one hand, pulling at it.

"What the hell d'you want? I don't even know what you are!" He yelled into the darkness. "Leave me alone!"

The silent creature kept pulling him up, and wasn't biting painfully hard, so Tony let it happen. He was simply was too tired and aching too much to fight. He also felt mentally disconnected, so much so that he wouldn't be able fully defend himself if he tried. Had he been thinking clearly, Tony would have easily been able to diagnose himself with the beginning stages of decompression sickness. As it was, he just relived to have something other than himself moving him along.

"I don't know where you're going, but if you're gonna eat me, do it fast."

* * *

**Author's Note: I probably won't be able to write for a few days, hence the sudden mass posting. We're in the middle of trying to buy a house and there is a lot to do. I'll be back soon, don't panic! ****  
**


	14. Chapter 14

"Captain, there's no one here." Katie murmured, mindful of the chance of Lucas overhearing her in the main part of the sub.

"Go deeper, past the euphotic zone," the teen loudly commanded, looking through a window into the dark water. "I saw him go down there, he didn't get eaten, I know it. He couldn't have been eaten."

Nathan and Katie exchanged a look, and she gave the controls over to him. She left the cockpit and stepped quietly behind Lucas, wrapping one arm around his shoulder and spoke in a calm and unobtrusive voice. "We're at one hundred meters already, Lucas. It won't get that dark until we hit two hundred. You know a human can't survive at that level with regular tanks. And I know we were out of mixed gas before the rescue call. I'm sorry."

Pulling away from her, Lucas fought the wild urge to laugh. "He didn't have a tank, mixed gas or regular oxygen."

"But then…" Katie's face crumpled with the realization that the man had a certain death sentence.

"Tony has gills, his lungs would be full of water not, air." Lucas explained with a sigh.

Her eyebrows arched, and she slapped her forehead. "Oh god, I need some sleep, how did I forget that? You have all these weird superhuman crewmembers now." She looked at him sheepishly, "sorry, I've had a lot on my mind."

"Anything more important than saving Tony's life?" Lucas snapped, losing patience.

"No, I… I'm sorry, come on, this is a different situation now, very different." Katie hurried back to the cockpit with Lucas at her heels. "We're going deeper, but he might be able to survive even further down than we can go in this sub. If he's injured, and can't swim to us, we won't be able to get to him."

Nathan gaped at her in shock, "deeper than the sub? That's impossible."

She grinned, "how up to date are you on saturation diving expeditions? If his gills work anything like the liquid oxygen, he'll be fine. They've made it to seven hundred meters. We can go to seven thirty, any deeper we're at collapse depth. I doubt the megalodon could take him much farther, all we have to worry about is if he sank."

"Half a mile," Lucas breathed, "how long will it take him to swim that if we can't find him?"

"Twenty or thirty minutes," Nathan answered, "but Tony has been out there working for hours, he'll be exhausted or may be injured. It's very probable that it'll take twice that."

Lucas leaned over the seats eagerly. "So we'll meet him on the way up. How good are you with the grappling arms, Katie?"

"I pulled down the bottoms of Ben's wetsuit in front of bunch of trainee divers he was showing off for last week. Didn't leave a scratch on him." Her light blue eyes flickered with amusement.

"Cool," Lucas nodded, "now we just need to get to Tony before something eats him."

* * *

The light was finally bright enough for Tony to make out the very familiar shape in front of him. "Hey! Fish face! Good to see ya. Um… up? To the surface? Do ya understand that?" Tony patted Darwin's beak with his free hand, and pointed. In semidarkness, and his rapidly disintegrating mental state, Tony could never be sure, but he was almost positive the dolphin rolled an eye at him as they swam upwards.

Minutes later, Tony's head started to loll, only buffeted by the currents and Darwin's movements. Feeling the dead weight in his mouth, the dolphin swam harder, desperate to find someone to help his human friend.

The unconscious man in his jaws may have panicked to see the sudden lights piercing the darkness, but Darwin headed towards them immediately. Coming dangerously close, he heard a yell from inside the metal tube. His sensitive ears picked out the voice of Lucas shouting happily. The strange arms on the front tube reached forward, startling the animal.

Nathan's reassuring smile, and "release" hand signal, told him it was ok. But he knew more than these humans, no matter how hard he had worked to trained them. Grudgingly allowing the arm to take Tony, Darwin stayed in front of the sub, ignoring the new signal to move. He waited until everyone inside was watching him, and slowly swam down, then up a quickly as possible.

Shaking heads were the only response, so Darwin repeated the action, then finished by drifting on his back with drooping fins. He saw the humans inside look at each other in horror. Nathan signaled "go," and the sub quickly rose. His only hope was that the easily confused humans could understand what he saw.

"Does Darwin know what decompression sickness is?" Lucas asked in amazement, watching Tony's limp body being held by the grappling arms. "He couldn't, could he?"

Nathan was still stunned, "I'm not sure Kiddo. We'll have to wait until we get back to the colony. Tony could have hit his head or just passed out from exhaustion." He bit his lip, not wanting to add another possibility. Both men just sat in their own thoughts, listening to Katie call in the rescue.

* * *

_Four hours, twenty six minutes_, Lucas repeated to himself. Four hours, twenty six minutes since they pulled Tony from the murky depths. Four hours, three minutes since they got the man into the colony's decompression chamber. Seventeen minutes since Kristin had been in the room to once again reassure Lucas that his friend would be ok.

"If he had been breathing oxygen, it would be much much worse sweetheart." She told him. "There seem to be very few bubbles in his blood."

"Why isn't he waking up?" Lucas responded, not caring that he sounded childish.

Kristin rested her hands on his shoulders, "he just needs my favorite treatment, some bed rest." He forced a smile for her benefit, and continued to watch his motionless friend. Kristin left him be, seeing that he wouldn't allow himself to be moved for anything.

_Four hours, forty nine minutes… four hours, fif… _Lucas stopped in mid-thought. Tony's face twitched, and he turned his head. Lucas leaped from his seated position on the floor, and slammed the intercom button with the palm of his hand. He ignored the minor surge of pain from the still healing abrasion. "Tony? Tony! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, why ya yellin' at me? I didn't do it."

Lucas dissolved into relieved laughter, and raced to the radio in the room. "Hey, uh, medbay people? Can you send Dr. Westphalen to the decompression chamber? He's awake."

He didn't wait for a reply, or to even see if anyone heard him and was back to the thick metal and plexiglas chamber in seconds. Tony had his face in his hands, groaning. "Why does my head feel like I've been doing shots all night? I don't remember seein' a bar here."

"You don't know what happened?" Lucas blinked in surprise. "You're a hero, man. You saved Martin's life."

"Oh… oh yeah, the shark thing."

Lucas snorted, "yeah, the shark thing that dragged you half a mile under water and nearly killed you."

"How d'you find me?"

"Darwin, he towed you up to us, and then told us you were sick. If it hadn't been for his acting skills, we wouldn't have known what was wrong until it was too late."

Tony winced as he tried to figure out what Lucas was talking about. "Actin'?"

"Well," Lucas grinned, "you made such a fuss about me bring the vocorder, I should have known you just wanted to have some private adventure with Darwin. But don't worry, he did a little mime work to let us know what you were up too."

Tony managed, after some concentration, to glare. "You said I was a hero, and I coulda died, why are ya makin' fun of me?"

"I can't let you have all the fun." Lucas smirked.

"All the fun he says…" Tony muttered, "you're worse than our priest when he found out I was hung over in church. He made me…"

His story, no doubt a harrowing tale of survival, was cut off when Kristin entered the room. "Anthony, how are you feeling?"

Tony's eye's widened, and he struggled to sit upright. "Why? Am I in trouble?"

"Trouble? Why ever would you be?" Kristin shook her head, "you did something very brave, foolish, but brave."

"You… um, ma'am, no one calls me by Anthony 'less I did somethin' bad."

Kristin cleared her throat, and Lucas thought he heard a laugh escape her lips. "No, I just want to know how you're feeling, young man."

"I feel like I got beat down in a bar fight." Tony started to inspect his limbs. "And I lost my glowly hand. Aw… I liked glowly hand."

Kristin looked alarmed, "I think we need to take you out right now and examine you thoroughly."

"Nah, I could get some sleep in here. I didn't hit my head or nothin'." He sighed, staring at his hand again. "It was jus' fun to glow."

"Tony, what are you talking about?" Lucas asked, looking as alarmed as Kristin.

He shrugged, "after I fell off the sharky, my hand went all glowly. It was kinda cool."

"Glowy? I mean, it was glowing?" Kristin asked thoughtfully, "where did you stab the shark?"

"One'a the big eyes, I didn't wanna get chomped, so I stayed above the mouth."

Kristin took a deep breath and nodded, "they eye tore away didn't it?" Tony nodded, wondering if his pounding head was making this more confusing. Lucas seemed to be just as lost, and it reassured him some. Instead of enlightening them, Kristin shook her head, "oh dear, that makes this quite a bit worse."


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: I know very little about engineering, and only a bit more about chemistry, just go with it... **

**Also, I was planing to wait on this chapter so I could work all the kinks out of the next one. Alas, after I noticed a few people going a bit crazy trying to figure out what the secret was (and since I'm off this weekend with no husband to bother me), I decided to be nice! Don't get too use to it... ;) **

* * *

Eric Wolfe looked around the guest quarters, seated at a dining room table, looking visibly uncomfortable. Ben and Katie sat on either side, offering silent moral support. Nathan faced him head on, surrounded by Lucas and Kristin. Between them was spread several printed screen shots of the megalodon's attack. They all tried to keep their eyes from flickering to the picture of Tony heroically standing on the shark's head with his knife buried in the eye socket.

"Shall we begin?" Nathan asked smoothly. "I'd like to have the full story before I send the pictures on, and before SeaQuest gets underway."

"Y... Yes, let's get this over with." Wolfe nodded, before hedging yet again, "how are your men?"

"Martin will take some time to heal, his humerus was badly broken." Kristin explained, "and he needed quite a few stiches where the bone shattered out of the skin." Wolfe grimaced at the mental image. "Tony should be up and around soon, we got him in treatment in time."

"Good to hear, and your sub?"

Kristin sighed, "two of the escape pods are destroyed, and it's badly dented, but I'll be able to use it still. We have Dagwood trying to hammer out some of the worst of the damages." Kristin allowed a glance at Lucas. "He was slightly frustrated that he was given the slip, so I gave him a job to keep his mind off of it." Lucas flushed, and started to work on his computer.

Kristin watched Wolfe absorb the information, "so, it's time to tell us what caused this mess."

Wolfe took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I was raised by family of miners, I watched each and every one of them die young because of it. I understood that we, as humans, needed what we were taking out of the earth, but I hated what it did to the people and land around me."

"When I was older, I went to school for alternative energy studies. There were amazing ideas out there, but most were not ready to work well enough. People would never be willing to change if it meant they would miss out on their little gadgets and easy lives."

Wolfe smiled as Lucas subconsciously played with the edges of his open laptop. "Not that I don't understand."

Clearing his throat, he continued. "I started with trying to protect the animals around the mines. I thought if I can save them, I'd work my way up to people."

"It was nearly impossible," he spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "Fences, trenches, high pitched or loud noises... Nothing kept them away, and the chemicals went too far from the starting point, they were poisoned. After several years, I got frustrated and I quit, I moved to Australia to start a new life."

Wolfe laughed a humorless and painful sounding short bark that caused the others to flinch. "But of course, there's mining there too, just different animals to kill."

"When they opened this colony, I was curious, I had never seen an underwater mine. So, I signed up to work. Right away, I saw something different about this place. The Rio Tinto Group actually cares about the people they hire. They try to keep their pollution to a minimum. They fought hard to get the permits to build and mine here. When the government saw their plans, they relented. People on land were mad, they thought we bribed the officials." Nathan looked down guiltily, knowing he was one of them.

"I worked hard, and shared some of my ideas. Because of that, and my background, few months later, they promoted me to research and then on to manager."

The next important thing I noticed was..." He gestured out the window facing the ocean. "Nothing."

The three members of the crew looked out in confusion, while Ben and Katie grinned. "Nothing?" Kristin was able to voice. "What do you mean by 'nothing'."

"What do you see?" Katie asked, inclining her head. "Outside, I mean."

"No animal life." Nathan said quietly, "I assumed they were all dead from the toxins of the mine."

Wolfe shook his head and stood to lean on the glass, grinning widely as well. "Captain Bridger, what do you about Asian Carp?"

"Invasive species, brought in to help aquaculture and wastewater treatment facilities keep retention ponds clean." Nathan quickly recited from memory. "They got out and have made their way up the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. So far they've been found as far north as Lake Michigan."

"Exactly!" Wolfe grinned and clapped his hands. "And what is the best way they've found to keep them out?"

Nathan paused, "after they tried to poison them all, electrifying the water at low strengths. The closer they get to the body of water, and larger they are, the bigger the shock."

Ben rolled his eyes, "pick one, and I'll give you a hint, we wouldn't be poisoning them to save them."

"You're using this technology here?" Kristin asked in amazement. "That could chase away the megalodon's food supply, but not nearly far enough to cause this issue."

Lucas leaned back in his seat. "Darwin wouldn't stay with us after we found Tony and brought him back either."

"Yes," Wolfe nodded, "the fact that he came as close as he did... shows great loyalty." His voice dropped, and Wolfe seemed to deflate, "there's more... but... It still doesn't make sense."

Katie came to the rescue, "Eric noticed that the areas closest to the electrical field generators where generally cleaner than anywhere else. The electrical frequencies of the discharges were causing minor chemical changes in the water. It was breaking apart the particles making up the pollution directly next to the generators. He tried to make it more reactive, but didn't have the proper equipment."

"And when I saw him trying to get it," Ben cut in, "I knew he needed help. I persuaded him to let me call Katie, and she built it for him."

"But now we've gone farther than just cleaning, the new drills use a similar frequency to actually break apart the rock and single out the ore. No explosives, no chemicals, no poisoning the earth." Katie continued, animatedly.

"Just a giant shark." Nathan reminded them, bring their excitement crashing to the floor.

Katie sighed, "I've run the numbers thousands of times. There is no way we'd be scaring off fish that far away."

"It's also going deep." Kristin said gravely. "Tony ruptured the shark's eye when he fought it. It has bioluminescent sight. It's originally from the bottom of the ocean. That's why no one has ever seen it."

The group went quiet, with the exception of Lucas, who was typing on his computer. "What is it that you're mining here?"

"Mostly iron, but anything we can find really. The new process allows us to go after everything." Wolfe hesitated, withholding a tidbit of information out of habit. Katie nudged him, and he sighed. "We've just found a heavy silver vein. It's going to pay for the inventions in just a few weeks of work." He shrugged, unsure why it would matter.

Lucas nodded, "that's what I thought. I've been running scans of the area since I found out about the lack of pollution. Our WSKR found this, and it's very possible that there is more, too deep for us to measure accurately." He flipped the computer around to face Wolfe, Katie, and Ben. "This is your silver vein."

They stared in collective horror at the gigantic highlighted spiraling line spreading from the colony several kilometers out in each direction. "Congrats guys, you made the largest transmitter known to man."


	16. Chapter 16

Leaning heavily on the table, Wolfe grabbed the computer tightly, studying it intently as if it would change what he was seeing. "How did we not see this? The main generator is right at the center… This… how did this happen?"

"Our scans just showed a thick vein, they didn't go deep enough to show the shape. I should have known this, silver is one of the most conductive metals there is." Katie said mournfully, "this really is our fault. All those people..." She dropped her head in her hands and shook with silent sobs.

Ben leaned over and held her. "There's no way any of us could have known." He whispered, "we were trying to do the right thing."

"Now we know the problem, how do we stop it?" Nathan asked the horrified people around him.

Wolfe gathered himself, pushing the computer back to Lucas. "If I shut down the generator here, it'll leave the colony at risk. It could be the only thing keeping the shark out right now."

"We can start with the outmost sites, turn them off one by one." Katie said, trying regain control of herself as well.

Lucas gave her a sharp look, "they aren't connected to any kind of mainframe?"

"No, not like that," Wolfe sighed. "We didn't want everything to go down if there was an issue here. They can transmit data here, but are blocked from receiving anything."

"Can you get past it, Lucas?" Nathan asked, watching him already at work.

He didn't answer right away, then looked up, shaking his head. "Probably, but it'll take a while. It'll actually be a lot faster to do it manually. I think time is factor here."

"How soon can we be in the water?" Nathan stood, ready for action.

"The Gazelle is ready to go." Katie announced, "I'll tear the damn things out myself."

Kristin shook her head, "you'll need help, you can't go out there alone."

"Enough people have died, I can't let anyone else get hurt." Katie argued, "this is our fault."

"Katie," Nathan said with a sad smile, "don't make me order you."

She paused, then nodded with the same smile. "Yes, sir."

"I should be the only one doing this." Wolfe said in a shaky voice. "I can't let you put your lives in danger for my stupidity."

Nathan took in his sorrowful face, then shook his head. "You should stay here. I know I don't officially have any say in it, but Katie's one of the best sub pilots I know, and Kristin knows the FlamFish better than anyone else. You'd be better used organizing your own pilots to guard the colony. And you need to start calling in favors to evacuate. This thing might attack after the generators are down. Tim will help you with any translations."

Wolfe stared at him long and hard, "I'll do whatever you think will work the best. Just… just please, do what you have to do to save my people."

"We will." Nathan promised. He turned to Lucas next, they both knew what was coming.

"No, I'm coming too." Lucas announced, closing his laptop. Cutting off the angry voices around him with a hand, he kept talking. "Miguel and I set up the WSKR to do the bubble wall thing, we'll need the extra protection. Our jerry rigging won't let me keep in control if it needs to go deep, I have to be closer."

Nathan regarded him with surprise. There was no hint of a whine in the young man's voice, only a steeling resolve of what was going to happen. "Ok, Kiddo, but under one condition, if I tell you to get in the escape pod and get out, you do it." Nathan said severely, hold his arm and forcing him to look at him. "No arguing."

Lucas swallowed tightly, "Yes, sir."

Taking a few minutes to call Commander Ford, Nathan impatiently waited for it to go through. His officer's face finally came in screen, "we finally understand why this is all happening. Lucas is sending all of information to you now. I need to SeaQuest here as soon as possible for back up."

Jonathan's eyes widened, "yes, sir. What do I tell the UEO?"

"Whatever you have to, we're going to need a bigger boat." Nathan growled before ending the call, and stalking away. He could only hope the brass wouldn't cause problems.

"Kristin," Nathan called softly from the doorway, as everyone else worked on the swiftly coming mission.

She turned quickly from looking over Lucas' shoulder, and stepped close. "No, Nathan, don't even try it. You said it yourself, I know my tin can better than anyone else."

A smile flickered across Nathan's face. "Any chance of ordering you?"

"Just try it and find out." She answered in a hiss, but her face softened when she saw his apprehensive expression. "I know you're worried, but we've got to be in this together. I'm just not the type to sit home and worry about the man I love."

Nathan shrugged, and Kristin was highly amused to see a slight flush cross his cheeks. "I had to try."

"I know, that's just a small part of why I love you."

* * *

As Lucas, Kristin, and Nathan startled him, jumping onto the damaged FlamFish, Dagwood dropped the immense wrench he was holding to the metal floor with a resounding clang. "Where are you going?"

"We're stopping the shark." Lucas said evenly, "you should stay behind."

The large man slowly shook his head, and bent down to pick up the tool. "I stay with you."

"Alright," Lucas nodded, "come on, I'll help you get belted in."

Struggling to find a comfortable place for the two of them to sit between the dents Dagwood was pounding out, Lucas heard the sub start and drift into the water. "The furthest generator is by the drill that was destroyed a week ago." He called.

"On it." Nathan yelled back, "is the WSKR in place?"

"Right beside us." Lucas was typing commands into his laptop with nervous energy. "It's already lit up."

The radio beeped, and Kristin turned it up so everyone could hear and speak. "That light show is hard to see through." Katie informed them. "I think it's confusing my instruments too. We'll have to stay pretty far ahead of you."

"Understood," Nathan answered heavily, "great, so much for backing them up."

Katie and Ben took their position ahead of the FlamFish, and took off towards the first generator. "It's a fairly simple operation." Katie notified them drily.

Reaching one of the robotic arms out, Katie pulled the lid of the squat grey box off. Next, the arm reached in a pulled several insulated wires free and ripped them out. There were a few sparks and the lights on the box blinked out. "Ok, only seven more and we're home free."

"Seven's lucky, right?" They heard Ben remark.

"Hopefully."

As they moved towards the next generator, the now horribly familiar colossal shadow surged from the darkness. "It's back!" Lucas yelled, looking up from the WSKR view in front of him.

"Move it, Katie!" Nathan barked. "Meet back at the colony, we'll have to wait until the SeaQuest can back us up."

Before the Gazelle could move at all, the megalodon saw it, and launched towards it. The shark immediately grabbed ahold of the small sub, biting off the thrusters. The Gazelle drifted to the ocean floor gracefully and sat completely motionless. Without being told, Lucas sent the WSKR to their aid. It flew through the water and blinked in the shark's damaged face. A roar of fury rang out, vibrating the sides on the FlamFish.

The megalodon turned away from the WSKR, and headed in the opposite direction, unfortunately straight at the FlamFish. It opened it's huge jaws, giving Nathan just enough time to shout, "everyone hold on!"

They could hear the grinding and saw the dents grow deeper. The thick metal creased as easily as someone bending aluminum foil. All of them where tossed painfully against the seat belts. Lucas let out a pained gasp of air as he heard something crack in the center of his chest. The computer flew from his hands and crashed against the far wall, sparking briefly before emitting a small puff of smoke.

There was another sound of crushing metal before everything went dark and silent. The sub drifted slowly down, and softly landed, much the same way as the Gazelle had only moments before.

"Report?" Nathan finally asked in the very dim light, gingerly checking himself.

"We're alive…" Lucas groaned, after he felt Dagwood move beside him. "Alive, but ow, very ow."

"Dagwood's arm is bleeding." The large man stated matter of factly. "But no ow."

Kristin started desperately pushing on her instruments. "Everything is dead, radio, thrusters, environmental. Can you see Ben and Katie?"

"Yeah…" Lucas wheezed, biting his lip as he twisted in his seat. "They have lights, but I can't see anything else."

"What's hurt?" Kristin asked, now hearing is voice fully after giving up on the console.

He took a deep breath, "nothing, I'm good."

Kristin weighed her options and decided to deal with the aftermath if they survived. "Dagwood, what is he doing?"

"Lucas is rubbing his chest." He answered after a pause.

"And what color is he?"

"He is the color of white."

Dagwood grinned as Lucas scowled at him. "Thanks a lot, big guy."

Kristin unbuckled herself and heaved across the sub wobbly. She undid his belt and carefully probed the middle of his chest. "I believe your sternum is broken, perhaps a few ribs too. You and Dagwood need to get in the escape pod. Call out on the radio, Nathan and I will wait for someone from the colony."

"Your head is bleeding." Lucas pointed out mulishly.

"I'm aware, Lucas."

Nathan came to stand behind her, also looking pale in the dim light, his arms crossed over his chest. "Come on Kiddo, you promised you'd go I told you to."

With great difficultly, Lucas stood. "Are you telling me to?" He looked hurt, and very scared. "But what if it comes back… or if the sub starts to leak?"

"The diver who helped with Martin left his tank in here. If we have to, we'll buddy breath. So get up there fast, and call for help." Nathan said softly, "Dagwood can help you in."

Lucas looked at the faces of the two people he considered as his parents. "Yes, sir. Just… just be careful." He managed to hitch up one side of his mouth in a smirk. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"We won't." Nathan promised, he cupped one hand around the back of Lucas' neck. "Just remember you're the best."

Lucas froze, a startled and knowing look crossing his face, but with the firm guiding hand of Dagwood on his back he was forced to climb into the escape pod.

"Dagwood, keep him safe, don't let him get out until help comes." Nathan ordered solemnly, he locked the door behind them after giving a sharp salute.

Kristin leaned her head on Nathan's shoulder as they watched the pod rise out of sight from the cockpit. "Do you think he heard it?" She nodded to the thick stream of water spraying in through a window.

"No, he would have fought much harder." He kissed her forehead lovingly as he wrapped his arms around her, "do you think he knows the air tank is almost empty?"


	17. Chapter 17

Lucas cursed loudly at the radio in the tight and dimly lit two person escape pod. It was a very simple set up, but only had enough power to call out on the surface. Ignoring Dagwood's alarmed expression across from him, Lucas slumped in the seat. When his sternum flared with pain, he jerked up again.

Dispassionately he stared at his knees, the wounds had opened again, and blood was seeping through his jeans. He knew they probably hurt, but his head was buzzing with what his captain had just said. "They're going to die." Lucas finally whispered. "And he knows it."

He expected Dagwood to ask him what he meant, and Lucas tried to prepare himself to explain it. Instead, the GELF was looking over his shoulder, through the only window. "I see it now. I didn't get to before."

"What?" Lucas tried to turn, but his belt kept him firmly in place.

"Tony called it a 'big ass shark'." Dagwood said slowly, with wonder in his voice. "It is a_ very_ big ass shark."

"Shit!" Lucas scrambled at his seatbelt frantically.

Dagwood unclipped his own, and pushed the young man's hands away. "You need to stay here. Captain Bridger said."

"Well he's dead!" Lucas screamed, his voice cracking. "And probably Ben and Katie too. That bastard out there killed them. And now it's coming for us. I hope it chokes on us."

He finally got the belt undone as Dagwood looked at him in confused shock. He flipped over in the seat to peer out the window, but saw nothing, only the rapidly brightening water. With a sideways lurch, the escape pod broke the surface. "Where is it?" He whispered, afraid to breath.

The light of the full moon reflected off the dark water, the waves moved lightly, but there was nothing else there. Lucas was gripping the edges of the window tightly, with Dagwood directly behind him, when it hit. The escape pod was thrown up in the air, and came crashing down. Lucas didn't have time to think, but there were arms around him, cushioning blows caused by the walls that would have been devastating to his already cracked bones. The pod spun, and they heard the horrendous crunching sound. Then, silence.

"Is it gone?" Lucas asked in a hushed voice. "I think it rammed us and took off. Maybe we aren't so edible." He laughed harshly at his macabre joke and looked around. It was much darker in the escape pod, and it took him a few moments to realize why. We were now upside down, and he was laying on top of Dagwood. When his feet started to feel damp, Lucas jumped up, thinking he was injured yet again. Instead, there was water bubbling up through the dented and cracked hatch beneath them.

* * *

"Let me see," Kristin pulled away after allowing Nathan to hold her for several seconds. He looked at her with a very similar expression Lucas had when being forced to do something he considered trivial. "I can feel it bleeding through your shirt, let me see."

Sighing, Nathan turned so the little bit of light that trickled down showed his shirt. Just over his heart, a red stain was spreading evenly. Kristin carefully pulled the sodden shirt free. Nathan hissed as the damaged skin tried to come with. "It isn't deep." She murmured, "you've lost a lot of blood though, the wound has splayed."

"Remind to write a report on how cheap the buckles on your seat belts are." He responded drily. "And sharp, they don't need to be so sharp."

"Hush, would you rather have gone through the windshield?" Kristin pulled out a med kit from behind the pilot's seat. She frowned at the rising water. "We'd better do this in the back, it's getting chilly up here."

Nathan took her hand, "or don't bother at all. Strap on the tank and go. I'll wait it out."

"Don't, Nathan, just don't. I'm not going to leave you." Her hands were shaking as she tried to administer to the injury again.

"Kristin, I'm not going to able to swim like this, not well enough to warrant using up the oxygen in that tank. I can feel it, it's deep enough to damage the muscle."

She swatted his shoulder, "Nathan Hale Bridger, we are only a hundred feet under, we will swim out of here together. And don't bother arguing with me. I know we can't leave until the water is full to the top of sub. So, you can either sit with me, and plan this out, or we can spend our last minutes on earth together arguing."

Nathan pursed his lips, fighting the urge to laugh at her. No matter how mad she was at him, seeing Kristin fired up and fighting a battle she had lousy chances in, always made him smile. "Ok, ok, treat me if you insist. But it's one hundred twenty feet at least." He added in pure stubbornness.

Allowing himself to be led into the main part of the sub, and ignoring her annoyed glare, Nathan watched Kristin work on his chest. "How did you know about the water pressure?"

"I watched a lot of tv when you were rebuilding the SeaQuest. There was frightfully little of interest on, but I did watch several documentaries and science shows. One of them showed how to get out of a car that is going underwater. Same principal."

Nathan nodded, "so, you understand that we have to wait until the water pushes out all of the air, and we won't be able to breathe the entire time."

"Yes, and I also understand that it will take about two minutes to swim one hundred feet. How much oxygen is left?"

"Based on what I use, about ten minutes. At least five of that will be taken up after our air pocket is gone." Nathan took her hand again. "I can't swim, you need to understand that. If you tow me up, it will take longer than we have."

She shook her head obstinately, "you said we could buddy breathe…"

"Yes, and that will cut down your oxygen even more. It will practically halve it."

"Our oxygen, Nathan. You aren't going to win this argument. I won't allow it."

* * *

Ben sighed and dropped back into the seat. "I just saw the escape pod go up, they're safe."

"Good, one less thing to worry about. Any sign of the megalodon?" Katie asked in a muffled voice, her head and shoulders under the control console.

"Nope, not since it took a bite of them." Ben nudged her leg with the toe of his shoe. "Come on, stop worrying about the radio, it's fried. Eric will send someone out soon. Don't get yourself electrocuted."

There was a sound that was somewhere between a snarl and a snort. "I don't get myself electrocuted, Ben, people messing with my wiring gets me electrocuted."

"I was trying to help." He said sheepishly.

Katie groaned, and pushed herself out. She rested her back against the console, still sitting on the floor of the Gazelle. "Yeah, I know, well… after I woke up, I figured it out."

"We make a good pair." Ben smirked and tilted his head flirtingly.

She rolled her eyes, "yup, working together we killed over a hundred people, destroyed billions of dollars in homes, and are now stuck on the bottom of the ocean."

"The shark killed them." Ben prodded. "You can't think like that." He leaned forward and lifted her chin with the palm of his hand. Despite herself, Katie couldn't resist pressing into the reassuring warmth. "Come on, the moon light is coming through the water just the way you like it."

"Don't you dare sing." She growled, suppressing a smile. "I'll call the shark over myself if you start."

He grinned, reading her perfectly. "I won't… but only if you answer me."

"What? What are you... oh... No Ben, not now, it just isn't the right time to talk about this. Just not… not yet."

"Then when?" He pressed, "it's just a yes or no, we don't have to do anything for as long as you want."

Katie turned so she could lean against his legs, and sighed as he caressed her hair. "Ok… but I reserve the right to change my mind, I get to blame the extreme stress of the situation. But… yes, Ben Krieg, for some insane reason, I will marry you again."


	18. Chapter 18

Lucas realized although he was in quite a bit of pain, it didn't seem to be worse than he before. "Dag? Are you ok?"

Dagwood slowly pushed him upright. "My leg." They both looked down, there was a dark stain spreading out.

"I'm sorry, I must have jammed you into the seat when we were spinning." Lucas sighed, crouching down to look at it in the flicking emergency lights.

"No," Dagwood shook his head. He reached into the pocket covered in blood, and pulled out the huge wrench he had been working with. "It was not you, Lucas."

"Why do you have that, still?" Lucas asked, puzzled.

"Dr. Kristin let me use it, I told her I would take care of it. I like Dr. Kristin." Dagwood proudly patted the wrench and slid it back into his pocket.

The statement made Lucas choke up. "Yeah, so do I." Taking a deep breath, he started to glance around. "We needed to flip this back so I use the radio. The antenna is underwater right now."

"Can you help me with this?" Lucas asked, straining at trying to open the gurgling hatch. "We're be ok." He answered Dagwood's hesitation. "The air pressure in here will keep the water from coming in too much. You know, like Darwin's pool?"

The large man smiled at the mention of the dolphin and nodded enthusiastically. With a twist of one hand, the hatch popped open. The dark blue water lapped at the opening, but very little came in. "Ok, we just have to get out and flip this thing back over."

"You have to say in here until someone comes." Dagwood reminded him.

"If I stay, I'll get hurt. Trust me, I don't want to get out either." Lucas explained patiently.

Dagwood carefully shunted him backwards, "I go first, I'll keep the shark away."

"I don't think that's possible." Lucas muttered glumly, looking at the blood spots on himself and his friend. "We'll just have to be fast." Lucas watched him jump into the water feet first. He waited until he heard a thump on the side of the pod, and took it for the signal to follow.

The moonlight reached far enough to outline the edges of the pod, and Lucas quickly swam to the surface. He peered up at the egg shaped vessel. "Ok, now we just need to roll it."

Dagwood took hold of one of the metal bar steps secured to the side and easily pulled up on it so the escape pod flipped right side up. He grinned triumphantly at Lucas' stunned expression. "You can use the radio now?"

"Uh… yeah, come on." Lucas grabbed one of the bars and started up, a squeal startled him, and he dropped back down. "Darwin?"

The dolphin swam around from the other side, chittering angrily. "You need to get out of here, fish face."

Darwin kept came face to face with him, still scolding. "What? I don't have the…" Lucas was cut off when the dolphin shoved him roughly by his shoulder. "Ow, damn it, stop that!"

"Lucas," Dagwood began, turning slowly in the water. "What is that?"

In the semidarkness, the iconic image of the triangle fin was cutting through the water. Lucas spun in the water, and jumped up the rungs, he nearly let go as pain roared through his body. "Get up here Dag!" He turned in time to see Darwin pushing the large man against the pod and leaping through the air towards the shark. "No!"

Darwin soared though the air once again, and dove under the water. The shark's jaws opened and snapped closed where he landed. There was silence, then the gigantic fin swiftly vanished from sight.

* * *

Kristin professionally finished bandaging Nathan with the waterproof tape as the water lapped at their waists. "Shouldn't be too long now." He whispered, taking her hands. "A few minutes at the most. Is the tank ready?"

"Yes," she answered stiffly, nodding to the nearly empty diver's tank propped against the entry hatch. "We just have to strap it on and go."

"Are you comfortable with using it?"

Kristin narrowed her eyes. "It doesn't much matter, does it, you'll be with me if I have a problem."

"Is there any way I can…"

"No, just stop." Kristin buried her head in his shoulder. "Let's talk about something else."

He nodded, and rubbed her back soothingly. "Ok, where do you want to get married?"

"Your island." She answered promptly. "Small ceremony, just our closest family and friends."

"Sounds good." Nathan agreed. "And the honeymoon?" He smiled into her dark hair.

"Anywhere above water."

They stood, wrapped in each other's embraces as the sub filled with water. As it reached their chins, Nathan could feel Kristin's heartbeat increase. "Come on, put the tank on." She pulled away to protest. "Just to get ready, we don't have to use any of the air."

Reluctantly Kristin agreed, and let Nathan strap the now weightless tank on her back. He made sure she was comfortable with the regulator, and they continued to wait. The water came higher, and they stood on tip toe to get the last bit of air.

As the pocket vanished, Kristin started to panic, but Nathan calmly slipped the regulator into her mouth and smiled through the water. Small bubbles collected on his eyelashes and facial hair, making him look other worldly. He nodded at her and opened the door.

* * *

His mind raced through all the time he spent with Darwin, all the times the dolphin had helped him, and Lucas swallowed a sob. "Not you too." A hand pushed at the bottom of his soaked shoes, prodding him to climb. Once he was at the top, Dagwood started, but the escape pod tilted dangerously.

"Hang on, you're too heavy, you'll flip it again."

Dagwood looked up at him sadly, but dropped back into the water. Lucas considered his options, "Ok, wait until I say to try again." He sat on the edge of the open hatch and leaned backwards to offset Dagwood's weight. Screwing up his face against the pain surging through him, then called out, "this is the most I can do, try it again."

His large and heavy form lurched the escape pod again, but this time it wasn't in danger of tipping. Lucas clung to the hatch. "Just go slow buddy."

Lucas stretched his neck to look over the side the pod. He saw the teeth first, startling white against the tranquil dark blue of the sea around him. "Dag! Look out!" Dagwood didn't even have time to turn before the mouth closed around him, plucking him from Lucas' sight.

"No, no, no, god, please no. I can't... not another one." As he struggled to absorb what he had just witnessed, his hands released the edge of the hatch, and he hit the floor hard, crumpling to his knees. The small portal window in the escape pod turned red, and Lucas turned away from the sight trying not to vomit. The last thing he wanted to see was the dead partial body of someone he loved. He knew the shark had taken Dagwood without actually biting into him, but the blood he now saw could belong to one of the others. Any moment, Darwin, Captain Bridger, Dagwood, or Kristin could float by. He couldn't stomach the possibilities.

He fought his way to radio. The sea was smooth and the moon shone brightly through the open top of the pod, but his legs shook and lurched like he was in the middle of a hurricane. "Hello?" He rasped, "if anyone can hear me... Please I need help."

* * *

"Yeah, I know. I'm stupid to ask, just think about it longer… wait… what?" Ben's eyes went large and round. "Did you say yes?"

Katie snorted and shook her head. "Yeah, I did. I don't know why, but I said yes."

"Really?"

"Ben… I can still change my mind."

"Oh, sorry. Just… really?"

Katie groaned and got to her feet. She sat in his lap, and kissed him. "Yes, now shut up."


	19. Chapter 19

What took only a minute, seemed like a lifetime as Kristin and Nathan fought their way out of the downed sub. There was a terrifying moment where the air tank caught on a broken piece of metal and Kristin fanatically struggled against what was holding her back. Nathan lifted her up smoothly to free her.

Unable to speak, but counting the time in her head, Kristin passed the regulator to Nathan, watching the precious oxygen escape upwards as she did so. Nathan took a few breaths and handed it back, with a curt nod, they started to rise. It was immediately clear just how badly Nathan's injury was, as he could only use one arm to swim.

_It's taking too long already._ Kristin thought desperately, _I can't lose him, not again._ His movements became weaker, and she saw blood streaming from his chest in the dim light. Her bandaging didn't seem to be a match for this much use, and the lukewarm saltwater.

Holding tightly to his left arm, so he could possibly still use the other, Kristin forced the regulator back into his mouth. Her vision was becoming spotty and her lungs burned, but she just didn't care. She shook her head violently to clear out the spots, and saw Nathan's expression. Oddly, it was one of tranquil acceptance.

He took the mouth piece without fighting, and raised one hand to her face, brushing it softly. It fell away slowly and floated to his side as his head rolled backwards. No bubbles left his mouth. Kristin seized the oxygen monitor on the tank and saw, to her horror, they had too much left. Nathan hadn't been inhaling on his last turn.

Gripping him tighter and taking the air back, she began to kick. The moonlight above her seemed to stay the same distance away as she swam. Her tears mixed with the saltwater around them. A momentary thought crossed her mind of why her eyes burned and blurred while crying but not from the seawater. The errant thinking took her away from the situation at hand, and Kristin kept with it. It was better than breaking down and not being able to continue.

Kristin's arm was whipped backwards with Nathan as something pulled him away sharply. The regulator popped from her mouth when she screamed in terror. She struggled to get him back, but couldn't see clearly enough. He was gone, and her fingers grasped at only water.

* * *

The radio crackled and Lucas heard a distant voice answer him. "This is the Argyle colony, what is your position and status?"

"Tim?!" Lucas gripped the radio so tightly his knuckles cracked.

"Lucas? What's going on out there? We can't get anyone to respond. The Gazelle or the FlamFish."

"They… the shark… it attacked. I don't know what to do, Tim. I think they're all dead."

"No…" Tim's horrified whisper echoed in his ears.

"I just saw…" He forced the words out, "Dag and Darwin get eaten… but... but... before that, Captain Bridger made us go up in the escape pod. They were going to die and he knew it. I just didn't see it until it was too late. He made us…" Lucas repeated, struggling to keep calm, he knew how important it was to stay in contact and crumbling apart would do no good now.

"Are you sure about the Captain?" Tim breathed into the radio.

"There's so much blood, Tim. I can see it in the water. It's just… just everywhere." Lucas whispered, daring to look out the window again. It seemed that the red had grown even more vibrant. "You have to help me, please, Tim I don't want to die. Not like this, not just waiting to be picked off." He pleaded desperately, but almost silently.

"We're sending someone to you right now." Tim's voice was hoarse but official sounding. The raw emotion in Lucas' voice rattled the communications officer. "There's a tanker close to us, and SeaQuest is an hour out yet. Is your beacon working?"

Lucas looked around the damaged vessel, shocked that he didn't think of it before. "Yeah, I got it." He flicked a switch and a soft ping started to sound.

"Ok… Just stay put, Lucas. We'll get you out in a few minutes." Tim tried to reassure him. "You'll be ok."

Lucas dropped the radio and sat in one of the seats with his head in his hands. "Yeah, sure I will."

He felt the pod being jostled by something large below the surface of the water. The pod tipped dangerously, unseating him. Standing slowly, and shaking, Lucas set his jaw. "Ok, you son of a bitch, but I'm not going down easy."

Spying a survival kit strapped to the bottom of the seat, Lucas ripped it off. Inside, he pawed through the food rations and felt a pang of sadness at the sight of basic aids inside. His mind flickered to the time he had spent in the life raft during the hurricane. How all of them worked together to stay alive. Kristin admitted how afraid she was just to make him feel better. A smile cracked his face as he thought back to the incident.

Finally finding what he needed, Lucas tossed the rest of the contents to the floor. He gripped the handle of the large survival knife in his hand grimly, and climbed to the hatch, sitting on the edge. The shark was floating beside the escape pod, seeming to wait patiently for it's next meal.

* * *

With great difficultly, Tim called out to the SeaQuest. Ford promptly answered, looking exhausted and irritated. "We are already at top speed, O'Neill, we can't get there any faster."

"Yes, sir. I… I just got a report from Lucas. He's in the FlamFish's escape pod. I thought you should know."

His haggard face made the commander forget all protocol. "Tim? What is it, what happened?"

He heard Wendy gasp behind him as she read the waves of pain, frustration, and anger coming off of him. "No…"

"It attacked again. Lucas witnessed Dagwood and Darwin being… being eaten. And he believes that Captain Bridger and Doctor Westphalen are lost too. We can't prove it yet, but from what Lucas heard and saw…" Tim closed his eyes tightly before speaking again. "This thing doesn't like to leave survivors."

The news forced the horrified crew into complete silence. Many were quietly weeping and shaking their heads. "After everything they did to protect the oceans, this… maldita thing…" Miguel couldn't finish the thought out loud.

Ford swallowed and nodded, finding strength in his training. "Thank you for informing us, O'Neill. Can we have the location on Lucas? We should to be the ones who pick him up. After what he's seen, familiar faces can only help."

"Sending now, sir."

After waiting for the data to finish loading, Ford turned to Miguel. "Start sending the WSKR's out to the same location, if possible I'd like … to recover the bodies."

The crew flinched at the term, and forced themselves to start working. They concentrated on trying to rescue the sole survivor of the mission, each resolving that the young genius wouldn't be taken from them as well.


	20. Chapter 20

Spinning wildly in the water, Kristin was dimly aware of the oxygen escaping her tank, unused. Something tightly grabbed her shoulder, and she reached up to push it away. To her utter confusion, the regulator was shoved back into her mouth. She swung again, in the throes of panic. Her fist, although slowed by the water, connected with something. Tony's aggrieved and startled face looked back at her.

She watched him start to tug Nathan upwards, but placed a restraining hand on him. Taking several deep breaths from the tank, and knowing it was among her last, Kristin blew the air into Nathan's mouth. She nodded, and waited until Tony started swimming again to follow them. They broke the surface seconds later, Kristin immediately started work on Nathan's lifeless body. She squeezed the water from his body, waiting until it was empty before breathing into his mouth.

Tony kept them both steady in the water, supporting Nathan's weight. A harsh cough filled the silent area, followed by Nathan groaning and gagging. "Cap?" Tony asked anxiously "you ok?"

"Tony?" Nathan blearily looked around. "What are you doing here?"

He snorted, "what you 'pect me to stay layin' in a bed while yous have all the fun?"

"Fun…" Nathan started coughing again. "Fun, he calls it." He wasn't allowed to comment anymore as Kristin covered his mouth in a deep kiss.

"If you ever scare me again with that … that macho noble bullshit, I will lock you in a room." Kristin growled menacingly. Nathan feebly tried to swim out of her reach, but he was too weak, and she had a tight grip on him.

Tony choked on a laugh. "Where's Luke n' Dag?"

"There," Kristin pointed to the escape pod floating about fifty meters away, pulling Nathan with her as she headed towards it. "I hope they figured out the radio already."

"As long as it doesn't run on steam, Luke'll know how to use it... and maybe even then." Tony retorted as he started to swim towards the bobbing object. He suddenly stopped, and squinted through the darkness at the strange looking silhouette. "Hey, what's goin' on over there?"

* * *

The megalodon drifted, bumping the escape pod with a sickening squelching sound. Lucas debated jumping directly on it to gain any sort of benefit he could. He knew he would be literally leaping to death, but he was burning for some revenge against the monster that had destroyed so many lives.

Still staring down, Lucas was greeted with the most bizarre sight he had ever witnessed in his short life. The lower jaw was… wiggling. It started to move in sharp jerky movements, coming unhinged, and blood poured from it as it opened further. Lucas was frozen, terrified he was about see the remains of a crewmate, but needing to know what happened next.

Like some horrific mockery of a birth, a form struggled free of the bleeding mass. The rest of the shark didn't move, but another something followed it. The moonlight illuminated the gore covered, but unmistakable skin patterns. "Dagwood? How…"

The GELF smiled up at him as Darwin poked his beak up from the water, squealing loudly. Dagwood held up a mangled, bulky tool, "it tried to hurt Darwin, and take Dr. Kristin's wrench. But I think I broke the big ass shark, is that ok?" Lucas collapsed to his hands and knees, on the top of the pod. He was bursting out with relieved and borderline hysterical laughter, trying to hold his aching chest with one arm.

There was a shout and Lucas stopped laughing long enough to see the three people slowly swimming towards them. "Who is that?"

Tony dived under the water, and came up beside the dead megalodon. He backpedaled cartoonishly when he saw it up close. "Whoa! Holy crap, you been fishin' without a license?"

"Dagwood has, he used himself as bait." Lucas retorted, still staring into the darkness. "Who's with you?"

"It's us Kiddo." Nathan called, now that he was in hearing distance.

"Captain… is it really you?" Lucas scrambled down the side of the pod and leaped into the water. Racing Darwin, we quickly reached them.

They both looked horribly exhausted but took the time to hug the stunned teen, and pat Darwin's melon. "I thought… you were dead." He managed to whisper.

"We did too." Kristin acknowledged. "Tony saved us, if it hadn't been for him, we never would have made it."

"Hey!" Tony protested, after he stopped poking the immense dead creature in front of him. "Don't be talkin' about that. All this hero stuff is gonna ruin my street cred!"

The water parted near them, and despite knowing the shark was finished, the three jerked back in fear. A WSKR blinked innocently at them. "Oh… Ford's gonna be pissed." Lucas moaned, "I may have told everyone you were dead, and that Dag and Darwin got eaten."

"We did get eaten!" The large man proclaimed happily. "But we didn't die."

"Good point." Lucas said, sheepishly waving at the WSKR.

Tony started to look around, "hey, everyone's here but that hot chick and the Ben guy. Where are they?"

* * *

Katie shivered and moaned at Ben's touch. They were trying to make the most of the cramped space and unknown length of time. She nestled her face into his bare chest and then pulled back to gaze up at him. "Oh god, Ben... I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about doing this."

"Me too," he murmured, trying to bring her body tight with his again. "Well, actually, I've been thinking of this position." Katie squealed in surprise when he suddenly moved with her wrapped in his arms.

She was looking down at his face, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear coyly. Stopping, she squinted and furrowed her brow in confusion at the noticeable change in light flickering rapidly across his features. The familiar blinking brought a horrible knowledge. "Oh god, Ben! There's a WSKR out there! It can see us!"

* * *

Miguel quickly flipped his screen off., and nearly ran into Lt. Brody in his haste to back from the console. They shared a disturbed look before he cleared his throat and called out, "um, Commander?"

"Yes, Ortiz?" Ford was enjoying the high of seeing Captain Bridger and Kristin alive. He didn't know how it happened, but he was taking it as a win. The cheer from the deck crew was ringing loudly in his ears. They still had job to do, but were much more relaxed and joyous now. Ford didn't even mind the teasing and joking he heard around him. However, the tone in Miguel's voice, and Brody's slack jawed expression, alarmed him enough to come to his station. "What is it?"

"I uh... I found Ben and Katie."

Jonathan held his breath, "are they…"

"No... No, they're ok. Just, um, permission to wash my eyes out with soap, sir?"

* * *

The radio squawked loudly, echoing in the forgotten escape pod. "Mr. Piccolo, do you have enough energy to climb up there and talk to whoever that is? I'd like a ride." Nathan asked wearily, resting his head on the dead shark.

"Yes, sir!" Using the head of the megalodon as a springboard, he jumped onto the pod and climbed inside.

"Ew!" Lucas lurched away from the body as something squishy touched him. "I think I got hit with some brains..." he raised an eyebrow at Dagwood. "You really tore that thing apart in there."

"The big whale swallowed me." The large man said defensively.

Kristin chuckled, "yes it did, Dagwood, but it isn't a whale I doubt that even you would have been able to break through the bony skull of a whale that big."

His face fell, "I wanted it to be a whale."

"What ever for?"

"Well," he started to explain slowly. "I thought if Dagwood was eaten by a big whale and got out, he'd be a real boy!"


	21. Chapter 21

**Epilogue**

The party that resulted the next day was threefold, a celebration of getting rid of the shark, Katie and Ben's new engagement, and Kristin officially being asked back onto the SeaQuest. As soon as the brass found out not only the shark was real, but that they had a near perfect specimen to study, she was offered a job. They wanted to be prepared if another one showed up. Not every colony could be protected by a giant wrench wielding GELF.

Eric Wolfe sat back and watched the festivities. Nathan noticed him, and excused himself from talking to the crew to speak to him. "I heard you're leaving the colony, along with Ben and Katie."

"Yes," Wolfe nodded, and smiled almost shyly. "The designs work, we just have to make sure not to make them so powerful. They're sending me all around the world to install them at every site they have." He shrugged and looked down, "they plan to sell it to other companies too. Everything I wanted to do as a child, it's finally coming true."

"That's really amazing," Nathan clapped him on the back. "I hope what happened here won't cause any problems.

Wolfe sighed sadly. "No, I don't think so. I was informed there will be an investigation, but there wasn't any wrong doing on our part. We did everything we could."

"You did, keep up the good work." Nathan inclined his head in respect and salutation before wandering off again.

He saw Kristin arguing with Martin, who was wearing a stiff and balky cast on his arm. Kristin was explaining her idea for a new mini-sub, and it seemed that Martin was quite worried about her safety on the new vessel. "It just isn't feasible." She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I won't be in a full sized sub, there isn't room."

"Even small cars have airbags, think of how much could have been prevented if there was an airlock on the FlamFish." Martin pointed out.

"And where do you propose I put such a thing? An airbag is a small folded piece of fabric, an airlock is thick movable iron. It isn't the SeaQuest, Martin, it just won't fit."

Martin seemed to be biting his tongue to keep from saying what he really wanted. "And if it becomes a law in a few years? You'll just have to install one anyhow."

Kristin narrowed her eyes, "Chief, are you going to give me a ticket? I'm fairly sure you do not have jurisdiction in the oceans, that is your cousin's domain."

Seeing that he was about to be in deep trouble, Martin shook his head and raised his good arm defensively. His eyes flickered to Nathan, looking for help. "You're on your own, I've never won an argument with her." Nathan snorted, before evacuating the area for a safer conversation.

A very particular sight caught his attention and he decided to investigate. Ben was standing between Miguel and Lt. Brody, looking decidedly embarrassed. He was staring at the floor and shuffling his feet while blushing deeply. As he came closer, Nathan heard Brody comment on technique and positioning. Forcing himself to believe they were talking about the buying and storage of supplies, he turned the other direction and quickly left them alone to talk business.

A slightly more common, but still unusual scene brought Nathan to the next group. Lucas and Tim were blushing nearly as dark as Ben had been, but were only being talked to by a very proud looking Tony. "I really don't think that's it, Tony." Lucas was muttering, scratching mindlessly at his tight bandages around his chest. He saw the captain coming and tried to look for an escape route.

"What isn't it?" Nathan asked, grinning at the expressions around him.

Tony spun, "well... uh... hey Cap'n Bridger. How are you feelin'?"

"I'm fine, what are you talking about?"

"Jus that... um... I heard this... uh theory 'bout why the ocean's all salty."

Nathan blinked, and started to laugh. "I'm guessing it doesn't have anything to do with the black smokers discovered several years ago?"

"I... uh... no sir... um." Tony stuttered, knowing he was in over his head, and impossibly deep already.

"I see, and would it possibly have anything to do with the mating habits of male humpbacked whales?"

"Blue..." Tony said, hanging his head and digging a toe into the floor. "I heard it was blue whales."

Nathan smirked, and nodded at his discomfort. Seeing Kristin now talking to Wendy and Katie close by, he called out to her. "Dr. Westphalen, how would you feel about teaching a class on the ship about the chemical make up of the oceans? There seems to be some misconceptions I'd like to clear up."

She tilted her head, knowing she was missing a punch line, but read his wry smile easily. "Of course, Captain Bridger. But only if I can give homework out to anyone I feel needs more work."

Tony looked terrified, "oh crap... no, I was just kiddin'. A hero doesn't gotta do homework... right?"

* * *

"I'm not so sure anymore." Kristin started to explain, her legs curled under her and sipping a cup of tea in the captain's quarters.

"About what?" Nathan asked, just enjoying the sight of her with no crisis brewing. He was currently marveling at how she sat. He could never understand how women could be comfortable bunched up like that. It was one of the many mysteries of the fairer sex to him.

"A small wedding, I honestly don't know who I could leave out." She chuckled, "I already want to ask half the female crew members to be bridesmaids. And how are you going to chose who will be your best-man?"

Nathan shrugged, "at this point I may just throw a ring in the air and let them fight over it. Who ever gets it back to me first wins." He paused, "although, there are couple of them I do not want to plan my bachelor party... it's just not safe."

"So don't have one." Kristin straightened up, and idea forming in her head. "Don't give them time. We can do it here, tomorrow before we leave the colony, then Ben and Katie can attend. The whole crew will be our wedding party. Cynthia won't be able to be here, but I doubt she would be willing to leave her work with the children for any length of time. We can record it and send it to her."

Nathan's eye's went very large. "But... I thought..."

"I just want to be married to you Nathan Bridger, it doesn't matter where. Jonathan can do the ceremony, you just need to make him acting captain for a day. I believe the old tradition of captains being able to marry on their ships still stands." A mischievous grin lit her face. "Actually, you better make him acting captain for a week, you won't be leaving this room."

"I think I'd be ok with that." Nathan said huskily, he took the tea cup from her hand and set it down. "But I think we should brush up on our technique, I've heard it's very important."

The End

* * *

**Author's Note: Finished! And now I get to figure out what to do with my time... **

**I know some people will grumble about not writing the wedding, but honestly, I'm better with sex jokes than actual romantic stuff, so I'll leave it to your imagination. If you don't know the joke about why the oceans are salty, stay off the google! (You know who you are. And to the same person, sorry, I just couldn't kill them... But I did only promised people would be eaten. I was very careful about that!) **

**I do have two short stories in mind, I've had them for a while but this one kind of took over. I honestly have no control over my brain anymore. **

**I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you soon!**


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